This is an excerpt from the October 11, 2012: Calculating cloud coverage, bringing more to the solar table, and seeking installer data edition of the SunShot newsletter.
Input Needed for Installer Survey
The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and the U.S. Department of Energy are working to identify and reduce the "soft costs" of solar photovoltaics (PV) installations that impact your business. By taking this brief survey, you can help us identify regulatory and other processes that may be streamlined or standardized to reduce cost burdens. The data from this survey will provide a baseline to measure against as we go forward, and will help guide future cost-reduction efforts.
Below are links to a residential soft cost survey and an identical commercial soft cost survey. Please complete both if you completed residential AND commercial installations in 2012.
The estimated time needed to complete each survey is approximately 10 to 15 minutes.
The following information will be needed to complete the questions. All totals are for the first half of 2012 (Q1 and Q2, 2012):
- Number of systems and megawatts installed
- Total cost of customer acquisition activities
- Total marketing budget
- Total cost of system design
- Average labor hours spent per installation on permitting and interconnection
- Permitting methods and costs
Data collected in this survey is strictly confidential, will not be disclosed to any third party, and will only be seen by DOE and NREL staff to compile the report. Providing company information is optional. Public presentation of this analysis will use only summary-level data and will not identify individual respondents or firms.
Please email us with any questions or requests for assistance.