- What This Exam Actually Is
- Clear the Eligibility Gate Before You Study
- Exam Mechanics: Fee, Format, Score, Retake
- The 15 Competency Areas, Grouped by How You Should Study Them
- Design Math: Where Candidates Lose the Most Points
- Codes, Safety, and Wiring Questions
- Grid, Storage, and Commissioning Topics
- A Competency-Driven Study Plan
- Test-Day Logistics and Calculator Rules
- After You Pass: Renewal Questions to Settle Early
- Frequently Asked Questions
- The ETA PV2 exam is 100 questions in two hours, with a 75% passing score.
- ETA publishes 15 unweighted competency areas, not a percentage blueprint, so cover every one.
- Eligibility includes 60 training hours, OSHA 10, CSS certification, and 150 attested experience points.
- One free retake is allowed within one year of your first examination.
What This Exam Actually Is
The Photovoltaic Installer/Designer (PV2) is an ETA International certification that sits above the entry-level PVI1 credential. Where PVI1 covers the fundamentals of installing solar electric systems, PV2 builds on that knowledge and pushes into design decisions: sizing arrays, selecting components, planning wiring, integrating storage, and managing a project from customer conversation through commissioning. If you want the broader definition first, see What Is PV2 Certification? or the shorter explainer on what PV2 stands for.
Two points shape how you should study. First, ETA states that examination questions derive from the certification competencies, so the published competency list is your syllabus. Second, PV2 supplements PVI1 knowledge. The 15 competency headings cover the supplementary material, but you are still expected to carry your foundational PV knowledge into the room. Treat the headings as the center of your preparation, not necessarily the entire boundary of it.
Clear the Eligibility Gate Before You Study
Many candidates treat this as an exam-only decision, but ETA's PV2 process involves documented prerequisites. According to the ETA PV2 Process and Experience Checklist, you need to meet all of the following before the credential is awarded:
- Be at least 18 years old.
- Complete 60 contact hours of ETA-approved or equivalent photovoltaic training. Current PVI1 certification credits 40 of those 60 hours.
- Complete OSHA 10 construction safety or an equivalent jurisdictional course.
- Obtain ETA Customer Service Specialist (CSS) certification.
- Document at least 150 attested experience points, including every compulsory task, with at least two reference contacts.
- Agree to ETA's Code of Conduct and pass the written examination.
The compulsory installation experience includes at least three systems of 2 kW or larger. ETA's overview lists no separate hands-on examination, but that does not waive the checklist's documented installation experience. In other words, the exam is written, yet the experience record still has to be real and attested. For a fuller walkthrough, read PV2 Requirements: Eligibility, Prerequisites & How to Qualify.
Key Takeaway
Start the experience log and CSS certification early. These are paperwork-and-time items, not cramming items, and they can delay your credential even if you pass the written test comfortably.
Exam Mechanics: Fee, Format, Score, Retake
According to ETA's current Renewable Energy Certifications listing, the PV2 examination works like this:
| Item | PV2 Detail (per ETA) |
|---|---|
| Examination fee | $155 |
| Questions | 100 |
| Time limit | Two hours, written exam |
| Passing score | 75% |
| Certification term | Four years |
| Retake | One free retake within one year of the first examination |
| Delivery | Arranged through an ETA Certification Administrator; Trapeza online testing or paper |
Do the arithmetic that matters: 75% of 100 questions means you need 75 correct answers, and two hours gives you roughly 72 seconds per question. That pace is comfortable for recall items but tight for multi-step calculations, so build calculation speed deliberately. More on the numbers is in PV2 Passing Score: Exactly What You Need to Pass, and the full cost picture is in PV2 Certification Cost: Complete Pricing Breakdown.
The free retake is a safety net, not a plan. Use your first attempt as a real attempt. If you want to gauge readiness beforehand, our PV2 practice tests let you rehearse the pacing and the mix of recall versus calculation questions.
The 15 Competency Areas, Grouped by How You Should Study Them
ETA's PV2 competency requirements list 15 numbered headings. Rather than studying them in listed order, group them by the kind of thinking they demand. The official headings are reproduced below (ETA's source spells Domain 2 as "ADDITONAL"). For the full breakdown of each area, see PV2 Exam Domains: Complete Guide to All 15 Content Areas.
| Study Group | Competency Areas | Primary Skill |
|---|---|---|
| Calculation-heavy | Array Sizing; Wiring the System; Components Selection | Multi-step math and specification matching |
| Rule-and-reference | Codes and Standards; Additional PV Project Safety | Recall and applying requirements |
| Conceptual systems | How the Grid Works; Energy Storage Systems; PV Mounting Systems | Understanding how parts interact |
| Process and judgment | Determining Customer Needs; Conducting a Site Survey; Project Management | Sequencing and decision-making |
| Field verification | Testing and Troubleshooting; Commissioning the System; Maintaining the System | Diagnostic reasoning |
| Context | History and Background of Photovoltaics (PV) | Factual recall |
Design Math: Where Candidates Lose the Most Points
The three calculation-heavy areas deserve the largest share of your practice time, because they require you to chain steps together. A wrong assumption in step one carries through to a wrong final answer.
Array Sizing
Connects the customer's energy needs to the physical array. Expect to move between loads, production, and equipment limits.
- Translate a customer's energy use into a target system size.
- Check string length against inverter input windows, including temperature effects on module voltage.
- Account for derating factors rather than using nameplate output as real-world output.
- Confirm that your final array fits the available roof or ground area identified in the site survey.
Components Selection
Choosing modules, inverters, and balance-of-system equipment that work together.
- Match inverter type to system architecture and any planned storage.
- Read specification sheets for voltage, current, and temperature coefficients.
- Evaluate compatibility between components, not just individual ratings.
Wiring the System
Conductors, protection, and connections from array to point of interconnection.
- Size conductors and overcurrent protection using the correct correction factors.
- Understand voltage drop and how design choices keep it acceptable.
- Know grounding and bonding concepts for PV systems.
A practical habit: when you practice a problem, write out every step and unit. Questions in these areas often reward process discipline more than raw speed. Candidates sometimes ask how demanding this is overall; our PV2 difficulty guide discusses it in more detail.
Codes, Safety, and Wiring Questions
"Codes and Standards" and "Additional PV Project Safety" are rule-based areas. The word "additional" in the safety heading signals that PV2 expects more than the baseline safety knowledge you gained in OSHA 10 and PVI1. Think of it as safety at the design and project-management level: planning for fall protection on a roof, coordinating with other trades, and designing systems so they can be safely serviced and de-energized.
For code and standards content, focus on the logic behind requirements rather than memorizing isolated numbers. Why does a rapid-shutdown or disconnect requirement exist? Why are conductors derated in hot conditions? Questions that probe the reasoning are easier to answer if you learned the reasoning. A one-page recap of must-know facts is available in the PV2 cheat sheet.
Grid, Storage, and Commissioning Topics
These areas separate a designer from a pure installer, because they require you to think about the system as part of a larger electrical environment.
How the Grid Works
Background on generation, transmission, and distribution, and how a PV system interacts with the utility.
- Interconnection concepts: what happens when a grid-tied system and the utility share a service.
- Why grid-tied inverters shut down during an outage, and how that relates to safety.
- The role of net metering and utility requirements at a conceptual level.
Energy Storage Systems
Batteries and their integration with PV.
- Battery chemistry basics and the vocabulary of capacity, depth of discharge, and charge/discharge behavior.
- Common architectures for pairing storage with solar and how they affect component selection.
- Safety and code considerations specific to battery installations.
Testing, Commissioning, and Maintaining
The verification sequence that proves a system is safe and performing.
- Pre-energization checks and what each measurement tells you.
- Diagnostic logic: given a symptom (low production, fault indication), identify the likely cause.
- Routine maintenance tasks and the documentation that supports them.
A Competency-Driven Study Plan
Because the exam draws from the published competencies, schedule your study by competency group, not by an arbitrary calendar. This eight-week outline front-loads the hardest material and uses the grouping above. Adjust it to the experience and training you already have.
Array Sizing and Components Selection
- Work sizing problems end to end, from load to array layout.
- Practice reading module and inverter spec sheets until voltage-window checks feel routine.
- Why first: these topics feed directly into wiring and storage.
Wiring the System and Codes and Standards
- Practice conductor and protection sizing with correction factors.
- Study the reasoning behind PV-specific code requirements.
- Pair with Additional PV Project Safety so safety logic reinforces code logic.
Grid, Storage, Mounting, and Site Work
- Cover How the Grid Works, Energy Storage Systems, and PV Mounting Systems.
- Review Conducting a Site Survey and Determining Customer Needs as the front end of the design chain.
Verification, Management, and Full Practice
- Study Testing and Troubleshooting, Commissioning, Maintaining, and Project Management.
- Skim History and Background of Photovoltaics for factual recall.
- Take timed full-length sets at the 100-question, two-hour format and review every miss.
If you have strong field experience, you may compress the conceptual weeks and spend longer on calculation. If your background is mostly design, do the reverse. For a wider view of how training fits in, see PV2 training.
Test-Day Logistics and Calculator Rules
You arrange testing through an ETA Certification Administrator, who will offer either Trapeza online testing or paper delivery. Contact them early to ask about available sessions, since scheduling depends on the administrator. For general guidance on windows and deadlines, see PV2 Exam Dates: Testing Windows, Deadlines & Scheduling.
- Calculator: ETA's general FAQ permits a nonprogrammable calculator. Bring one you already know well, and confirm the policy with your administrator.
- Pacing: Aim for a first pass that answers every recall question quickly, flagging calculation items for a second pass. Roughly 72 seconds per question is the average, but recall items should take far less so you bank time for math.
- No negative-marking assumption: Do not leave answers blank; a reasoned guess costs nothing under a simple percentage-correct score.
After You Pass: Renewal Questions to Settle Early
The certification term is four years, but ETA's own documents disagree on the details of renewal. The PV2 checklist specifies 24 continuing-education hours over four years and $25 annual maintenance. ETA's general maintenance policy distinguishes a standard route (40 hours over four years or employer verification) from a hands-on route (24 hours plus employer verification), both with $25 annual maintenance, and the overview marks hands-on as not required for PV2.
If you are still weighing the investment, our analyses of whether PV2 certification is worth it, PV2 earnings, and PV2 jobs cover the career side. Note that earnings vary by employer and region, and no certification-specific figure is guaranteed.
Frequently Asked Questions
According to ETA's Renewable Energy Certifications listing, the PV2 exam has 100 questions with a two-hour written-exam limit. The passing score is 75%.
No. ETA's competency document lists 15 unweighted competency areas. It states that questions derive from the competencies but does not publish percentage weights, so prepare across all 15 areas.
ETA allows one free retake within one year of the first examination. Use your score feedback and your weakest competency groups to direct your retake preparation.
ETA's overview lists no separate hands-on examination. However, the PV2 checklist still requires documented, attested installation experience, including at least three systems of 2 kW or larger, so the experience requirement remains.
Eligibility requirements, including training hours, OSHA 10, CSS certification, and experience points, are defined in ETA's PV2 checklist. Confirm sequencing with your ETA Certification Administrator, and see our requirements guide for the full list.
Whatever your timeline, structure your preparation around the 15 published competencies, front-load the calculation-heavy areas, and rehearse the 100-question, two-hour format with timed practice at PV2 Exam Prep. For the complete overview of the credential, start with PV2 certification.