IDC Energy Insights has announced plans to create a unique and industry-leading online survey panel to enable in-depth research into the North American photovoltaic (PV) industry.

Crafted in partnership with the American Solar Energy Society (ASES), the ASES/IDC Energy Insights Panel of North American PV Installers will provide IDC Energy Insights, ASES, and a limited number of solar industry sponsors with cost-effective and timely insight into the rapidly growing solar industry. IDC Energy Insights estimates that North American solar photovoltaic installations during 2011 will be double that of 2010.

"IDC Energy Insights will regularly survey the panel of PV installers in the United States and Canada,covering a range of topics that will provide ongoing insight into this dynamic market," said Jay Holman, IDC Energy Insights research manager, who is heading the project.

"IDC Energy Insights and ASES arecommitted to providing guidance to the solar industry based on a deep understanding of underlyingindustry trends, and no group is better situated to anticipate those trends than the installers who are outthere building PV systems every day."

The data will support IDC Energy Insights' ongoing research available through its Renewable Energy Strategies research advisory service, as well as its Worldwide Quarterly Photovoltaic Module Tracker and its Worldwide Quarterly Solar Inverter Tracker products, which provide accurate and timely market size, vendor share, and forecast information for these product segments.

ASES will use the panel as a source of information on hot topics for their SOLAR today magazine and their Solar@Work online bulletin, and to develop a bi-monthly index that tracks the average price and total installation levels of solar PV by region.

PV Installers participating in the panel will be given access to valuable industry performance and benchmark data that will allow them to make more informed product selection decisions, adopt industry best practices to reduce costs and improve customer satisfaction, and stay on top of the latest technology trends.

IDC Energy Insights will also offer a limited number of industry vendors the opportunity to increase their access to feedback from this important and growing customer base of PV installers by purchasing blocks of questions to be included in the panel's surveys.

Previously, IDC Energy Insights has recruited over 13,000 residential, commercial, and industrial utility customers into more than a dozen online research panels on behalf of U.S. electric utilities, resulting in over 2 million data points collected through online panel research.

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