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The success of renewable energy battery storage units will depend on the size and growth of the solar energy market. The database recommendations and research strategies below will help put together a picture of the solar energy market (companies, trends, regulations, and consumers) in order to understand how best to sell your product.
A thorough investigation of this market will require using a variety of information sources packaged in different formats, including:
You will need to access these sources using a variety of tools and platforms (not just Google), and synthesize information found across them to address your research questions.
When producing written and oral outcomes, cite the following:
The Business/SPEA Citation Guide provides examples of how to cite information from business databases in both APA and MLA citation style.
If you have questions about the resources or strategies in this guide or need further assistance, contact the Business/SPEA Information Commons or use the "Need Help" widget in this guide.
See the "Search Tips" and demonstration videos for suggestions on how to best use each database.
Companies:
Use the following databases to create lists of U.S. and Chinese companies that manufacture or install solar panels or photovoltaic components. The resulting profiles will provide extensive financial data and filings for public companies.
You can narrow your search by country, amount of revenue, number of employees and more. You will need to narrow your search to fewer than 1,000 companies to view the list in D & B Business Browser.
Market:
Investigate economic trends and government regulations and obtain data for the U.S. and Chinese solar energy and renewable energy storage markets.
Agencies & Organizations:
Government agencies and trade organizations make market data available that would otherwise be difficult to find.
Government Regulations
Many of the "Market" resources also include government regulation and incentive information.
Consumers:
Find consumer profiles including types and purchasing behavior.
Please note: Mintel allows access for IUB faculty, staff, and students only. Market research reports covering US and International markets with an emphasis on consumer products and industries. Note: Users must create a personal profile in order to download content from Mintel. Please see more below for additional instructions.
Mintel Reports offers product and industry market research reports covering US and International marketplaces. Each report combines data and analysis of the competitive landscape, supply chain, market-share size and trends, and consumer profiles. Complex demographic issues are broken into easy-to-understand sections, explaining consumer behavior and demonstrating the structure of the market. Reports may be downloaded as RTF (rich-text format) files; tabular data may also be saved as CSV (comma-separated values) files.
Access and downloading instructions:
1. All users will have to agree to the Academic permissions and prohibitions, which prohibits systematic copying, use without attribution, use for commercial purposes, or distribution to non-IUB students and employees.
2. After accepting the above permissions and prohibitions, you must create an individual profile in order to download reports.
3. Select "Log into your profile..." to create a new (or log into an existing) Mintel profile.
4. After logging in, downloading is available by either using the direct download option for a report or by using the My Presentations feature which also offers the direct download option for the report.