An electrical design internship online teaches the supply side of a building or plant: draw the single-line diagram, work out the load, choose protective devices, size the cables and check that a fault will disconnect safely. You do each calculation with your own numbers, checked when you submit. The first 4 weeks are free and use free tools only.
One fact about our own programme, so you can judge everything here fairly. The EDWartens internships are training, not employment. The first 4 weeks are free, with no fee to join, and finishing them earns a free certificate of completion with a QR code anyone can scan to verify it. Continuing past week 4 is paid, and so is the graded Internship Certificate (included from 24 weeks); prices are shown in your own currency before you pay. There is no stipend, and we do not promise a job, an interview or a placement.
What does an electrical design internship involve?
An electrical designer produces a set of documents that tell an installer what to build. The set starts with a single-line diagram, then a load schedule, then the protection and cable choices, then the calculation report, schedules and a design review checklist. The internship follows that order, so each week gives you one more document to produce.
Week 1 covers the design work and its documents: what a designer produces, the single-line diagram, standards and the client specification, drawing types, revisions and the title block, and the design review. Week 2 is loads and demand: connected load, demand factor, diversity factor, single and three phase current and kVA, the load schedule, and spare capacity.
How do distribution, earthing and protection fit in?
Week 3 covers distribution and earthing systems: low voltage distribution levels, TN-S, TN-C-S and TT drawn, bonding, the earth electrode, the IT system, and choosing a board and its ways. Week 4 covers protective devices: the MCB and its B, C and D curves, the MCCB and its settings, RCDs, fuses, discrimination and selectivity, breaking capacity and prospective fault current. Those four weeks are the free part.
The point of week 4 is that a device must do two things: carry the load without tripping, and break the worst fault without failing. Choosing a device that does only one of these is the classic beginner error. The exercises make you check both, and the lab marks you on both.
Why is cable sizing a week of its own?
Because a cable has to satisfy several limits at once, and the one that bites first changes with the job. Week 5 teaches the sizing steps, correction factors, voltage drop, short-circuit withstand, copper and aluminium, and the cable schedule. You work the steps in order and keep a record, so that a reviewer can follow your numbers.
In the UK, the IET publishes BS 7671, the wiring regulations that much of this work refers to (page read 18 October 2026). The course teaches the method and the habit of tracing each number; it does not reproduce the standard, and you should work from the edition your own country or employer uses. Week 6 then covers the earth fault loop: maximum Zs for a device, disconnection times in plain words, and what to do when Zs is too high.
What do weeks 7 and 8 add?
Weeks 7 and 8 are paid. Week 7 covers motors, power factor and quality: the motor feeder, starting current and starting method, power factor and its correction, harmonics from drives, standby supply (generator, ATS and UPS), and solar string sizing. Week 8 is the design package: the calculation report, cable and equipment schedules, the bill of quantities, the design review checklist, issue for construction, and as-built and handover.
The optional lab tasks put the numbers in a real setting. You can read a single-line diagram in the Substation and MCC lab, size a motor circuit, grade an incomer relay, correct a power factor, and in the Solar and EV lab size a string for the coldest and the hottest day.
What can you show afterwards?
A folder of calculations with your working, a single-line diagram you drew yourself with a free tool, and the free certificate of completion for weeks 1 to 4. Label the work as training exercises with invented loads. Pair it with the free courses on electrical design engineering and earthing and lightning protection design, and see our post on electrical engineering internships for the wider picture.
Internship at a glance: the facts in one table
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Free part | The first 4 weeks: all lessons, the weekly checks and the short final quiz. No fee to join |
| Certificate | Weeks 1 to 4 earn the free certificate of completion, verifiable by QR code, with no grade on it. The graded Internship Certificate is paid and included from 24 weeks |
| Labs | Substation and MCC lab, Solar and EV lab, and AI Data Centre |
| Software | QElectroTech, LibreCAD, diagrams.net and Google Sheets. Nothing to buy |
| Lengths | From 4 weeks (the free part) up to 24 months. Longer lengths are paid and shown in your currency before you pay |
| Time | Each lesson takes a few minutes. Nothing is timed, and practice never blocks a lesson, a week or the free certificate |
| What it is not | Not employment. No stipend. No promise of a job, an interview or a placement |
What do you do each day?
A remote internship day here is five small steps. Nothing is timed.
- Check in. Say hello to the simulated team and see what is planned for today. The colleagues are simulated and labelled as such.
- Learn. Read a few short lessons on loads, protection and cable sizing. Each lesson takes a few minutes.
- Today's practice. Answer a few quick questions on what you read, with the reason shown after each one.
- Lab practical. Open a lab and work a design exercise with your own numbers.
- End-of-day update. Write two lines on what you did and what is next.
Which three lab practicals will you do?
Three of the practicals, by name. Each opens in a browser lab, and each is optional practice that never holds you back.
- Read the single-line diagram (Substation and MCC lab, week 1)
- Size a motor circuit (Substation and MCC lab, week 5)
- String sizing for the coldest and hottest day (Solar and EV lab, week 7)
Where to go next
Open the track page for the labs and questions, then see the other engineering internships.
- Electrical design internship: the full track page, with labs and questions.
- Free setup guide: QElectroTech: install the free schematic tool step by step, on Windows, macOS or Linux.
- Free engineering internships: every engineering track side by side.
- Plan and extras: pick a start date and a length, with prices in your currency.
- Sample documents: see both certificates before you start.
Last reviewed 18 Oct 2026.
Practise with us
Internship
Electrical Design
First 4 weeks free. Weekly briefs, a work record and documents you can verify if you choose.
See the internshipRoles
Electrical design
Roles that ask for this skill, 70 open in this country now. Free to see and to apply. We are not a recruitment agency.
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Questions
What does an electrical design intern do?
You work through design exercises with your own numbers, checked when you submit: maximum demand, protective devices, cable size, voltage drop, earth fault loop impedance, power factor and a whole sub-board. Each exercise gives you a result you can compare with the lab's answer.
Can electrical engineering students do a design internship remotely?
Yes. The internship is fully online and self-paced. Exercises use a spreadsheet and a free drawing tool, and optional tasks sit in the Substation and MCC lab and the Solar and EV lab, which run in your browser.
Which software do I need for electrical design practice?
Free tools only: QElectroTech and LibreCAD for drawings, diagrams.net and a spreadsheet. Nothing needs buying, and you do not need a paid CAD licence to start.
What is the difference between electrical design and control panel design?
Electrical design covers loads, distribution, protection, cable sizing and earthing for the supply. Control panel design covers the panel's drawings, wiring and testing. They are separate internships, and the two sit well together.
Is the electrical design internship free?
The first 4 weeks are free and earn a free certificate of completion. Continuing past 4 weeks is paid. It is training, not employment, so there is no stipend and no job is promised.
Sources
- IET, BS 7671 wiring regulations (read 18 October 2026)
- HSE, Electricity at work (read 18 October 2026)
- NACE, what makes a good internship (read 18 October 2026)
Written by the EDWartens engineering team for general education. Product names are trademarks of their owners; mentioning them does not imply endorsement. Prices and terms of other providers were checked on the date shown and can change.
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