Developments in solar energy technologies have been astounding – and with it, the emerging identification as a solar designer. What does it mean to be a solar designer? More importantly, how do solar designers centralise sustainable human experiences, with a renewables transition that often prioritises cost convenience and scale? Through a series of empirical explorations: a Miroboard workshop with local youths, a micro-phenomenological perspective on 10 in-depth interviews with solar experts, and an introspective prototyping moment during the world’s first Solar Biennale, I elucidate what it means to design for solar – and it is far from simple. Tensions and conflicts present in value juxtapositions, amassed by the plurality of roles, motivations, responsibilities, knowledges and powers included within the renewables transition, challenges the creation of a rudimentary and cohesive role of the solar designer – reflecting a likewise splintered global renewables transition. Ironically, designing for solar and renewables might often be more about peripheral relations and topics than it is about the technology itself – as succinctly expressed by an interviewee about solar gatherings: “Sometimes, we talk about solar, but mostly not.” Through this paper, I thus offer a segue into broader discussions on what it means to design sustainably by deliberating the current and potential role of a solar designer.