Ever since my first rookie post here : I am glad to share that I was able to finish my project mostly on my own and great guidance of my professor from Johns Hopkins. In fact, I have started doubting the purpose and help , if any, provided by this forum here.
I could find the necessary data , put it all together, extrude the buildings from the DEM and run the solar radiation tool to produce the required solar potential from the rooftops. Next, I am going to attempt to wrap my project in a web interface. If anyone wants to vindicate the existence of this site and provide some pointers... I am listening 🙂 Thanks for no help at all, up to this point though !!