CiviCRM and Apache Solr Search
Considering that you foresee this as a significant challenge for you, I'd like to suggest that it may not be worth the trouble. CiviCRM is unlike within content management systems, where searches are for snippets from among a handful of long text fields. Instead, there are hundreds of fields to search, but you're usually looking for the exact or nearly-exact value.

Consequently, the advanced full-text indexing that Solr would provide would be wasted in most CiviCRM searches.  You'd also need to index all the tables (including ones that don't exist yet, as custom data tables are created on the fly and they're among the most-frequently searched).  Even the most simple searches by city or email address can involve a bunch of database joins.

In sum, I'm not sure Solr search would be worth it even if you had a bunch of solid developers and an open checkbook.  (The only reasonable example I can think of offhand is if you give out a bunch of grants and need a way to search among a ton of proposals.)  If you aren't confident in your abilities, you won't want to embark on something this expansive and experimental.