BUS C570 Strategic Marketing Management

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:​

• Analyst reports
• Association websites
• Company and competitor profiles and reports
• Consumer demographics and psychographics
• Industry and market reports

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:

• "Facts, figures, ideas, or other information that is not common knowledge.
• Ideas, words, theories, or exact language that another person used in other publications.
• Publications that must be cited include:  books, book chapters, articles, web pages, theses, etc." (MIT, n.d., para. 3)  

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.

• Search Tip: You can search the  North American Industry Classification System (NAICS), which provides numeric codes that categorize businesses according to the things they manufacture and/or the services they provide. Once you have found a code, you can use it to search databases like D & B Business Browser and Mergent Online. You might try these codes to start:
  • 334413 is for semiconductor manufacturing, which includes solar cells. (See a description of this code here.)
  • 335911 is for storage battery manufacturing. (See a description of this code here.)
  • 221111 is for hydroelectric power generation (renewable energy can be stored by pumping water up; the energy can be harvested when the water is allowed to flow down again). (See a description of this code here.)

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.

• Search Tip: Results must stay under 1000 entries in order to view. Try using limiters such as annual revenue (companies that bring in between $50 million and $50 billion) if over. Demo search

• Search Tip: Keywords only apply to company names; therefore, using "solar" will not return companies that produce relevant items if "solar" is not included the company name. Demo search

Market:

Investigate economic trends and government regulations and obtain data for the U.S. and Chinese solar energy and renewable energy storage markets.

• Search Tip: Demo search

• Search Tip: Demo search

• Search Tip: Demo search

• Search Tip: Use the advanced search to enter keywords such as solar energy, photovoltaic, and energy storage. Demo search

Agencies & Organizations:

Government agencies and trade organizations make market data available that would otherwise be difficult to find. 

• Search Tip: Search Google using keywords like solar energy, solar panel, photovoltaic, energy storage in the following format: [search terms] site:[address] to find additional sites. Demo search

• Find out how much residential solar power is produced in each state: Demo search
• EIA report on energy in China.

Government Regulations

Many of the "Market" resources also include government regulation and incentive information.

• Search Tip: Demo Search

• Search Tip: Demo Search

Consumers:

Find consumer profiles including types and purchasing behavior.

• Search Tip: Demo search