Supervising Engineer Trainee at Tata Power SDI: My Journey in Solar PV Commissioning

In early 2026, I completed a training program as a Supervising Engineer Trainee at the Tata Power Skill Development Institute (SDI) in Maithon, Jharkhand. The program was tied to the PM-Surya Ghar Muft Bijli Yojana (PMSGY) initiative. As an Electronics and Communication Engineering student, getting off campus and onto a live solar site was the kind of practical exposure I couldn't get from textbooks. The training covered the full engineering lifecycle of solar PV installations, spanning from site surveys to grid connection.

On-Site Training: Solar PV Systems

The training was hands-on from the start.

Site Surveys and Layout Planning

Before any hardware is ordered or panels are mounted, a site survey sets the foundation. I learned how to use solar pathfinders and digital tools to analyze shading profiles throughout the year:

Obstruction Mapping: Identifying shadows from water tanks, trees, or nearby structures that could cause hot spots or reduce string efficiency.
Structural Assessment: Checking whether rooftop surfaces can support panel mounting structures under wind loads.
Angle Optimization: Calculating the tilt angle, usually equal to the site's latitude, tilted south in India, to maximize annual energy output.

Mounting and Structural Integrity

I spent time working with panel mounting structures and learning why mechanical assembly matters. On flat concrete roofs, we used ballasted mounting structures to avoid drilling into the roof membrane and preventing water leaks. I also learned how wind uplift forces can strip panels from roofs if they are not anchored correctly, and how to verify torque settings on mounting clamps to avoid micro-cracks in the PV cells.

Electrical Wiring and Safety Compliance

Wiring a solar array means working with high-voltage DC, which requires strict safety measures. Unlike AC power, DC arcs don't self-extinguish easily and present a real fire hazard if connections are loose. We focused on:

Cable Management: Keeping DC cables off the roof surface using UV-resistant ties to prevent water damage.
MC4 Connectors: Using specialized crimping tools to ensure MC4 connectors are watertight and have low contact resistance.
Safety Inspections: Verifying system grounding (earthing) and checking the installation of DC Surge Protection Devices (SPDs) and fuses in the combiner box.

Commissioning and Grid Integration

The final stage of the training was commissioning, which involved testing the electrical system before connecting it to the utility grid. I helped run these commissioning checks:

Open-Circuit Voltage ($V_$): Measuring the voltage of each panel string to verify correct series wiring.
Short-Circuit Current ($I_$): Verifying string current levels under active sunlight.
Insulation Resistance Testing: Using a megohmmeter (megger) to check for isolation faults between the active PV wiring and the grounding system.
Inverter Configuration: Setting up grid-tied inverters, verifying grid synchronization parameters, and testing the anti-islanding safety feature, which shuts off the inverter if grid power drops, preventing power injection into lines that utility workers might be servicing.

Key Takeaways

My training at Maithon gave me a ground-level understanding of solar technology. I came away with a clearer sense of project supervision, what safety protocols look like in high-voltage environments, and what it actually takes to bring a solar site from raw components to an active generation unit. Those are skills that no circuit diagram fully conveys.