This survey is intended to collect quality and reliability issues related to large-scale PV power plants in the U.S., both in the C & I segment and the ground-mounted utility-scale segment. pv magazine group is collecting this information to evaluate it for its 4th Quality Roundtable to be held at SPI in Las Vegas this September. Click here for more information and to register free.

If you are active in the above-mentioned market segments in the U.S. we would greatly appreciate if you could complete this survey. We will be giving away a new Apple iPhone 6 in a raffle at SPI and you can participate in this raffle just by completing this survey and providing your contact details at the end of this survey.

All information provided will be anonymized, so that quality and reliability cases we evaluate and report on will not be linked to any manufacturer or other party related to such cases. If contact details are provided, we will not correlate your identity with the answers and will also delete the respective data.

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* 1. Type of company (you can check more than one box):

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* 2. Your position in the company:

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* 3. Number of employees in your company

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* 4. Company handled the following capacity in 2015 in total (you can provide an approximate figure)

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* 5. Please categorize this capacity by PV segment (please provide approximate information only on PV, by segment, in 2015. Please provide a response for each category.)

  0% <25% 26%-50% 51%-75% >76% 100%
0 to 10 kWp
10 kWp to 100 kWp
100 kWp bis 1 MWp
Solar plants > 1 MWp

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* 6. Please rank types of risks listed below in terms of importance for you
(1 = very important to 4 = not important at all)

  very important
1
2
3 		not important at all
4
I don't know
legal, regulatory risks
supply chain risks
risks on construction, installation
Ownership of projects, change of control
Going concern including financial strength of related parties
Quality of modules, materials, and equipment
Financing risks (e.g. interest rate, currency exchang

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* 7. Please name the top three brands of solar panels you recommend most:

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* 8. Please explain why you recommend these brands

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* 9. How important are the following factors in your decision to recommend solar panels? (Please provide a response for every factor or check the “N/A” column if not applicable.)
(1 = very important to 4 = not important at all)

  very important
1 		2 3 not important at all
4 		I don't know
Certificates
Certifying institution
High performance over the entire lifetime
Manufacturing quality assurance standards
Low price ($/Wp)
Warranty period and conditions
The financial strength of the module manufacturer (low risk of insolvency)
Reliability of delivery information
Variety of power classes
Reliability and durability of panels
Recommendation by my wholesaler

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* 10. Do you specify sub-component materials (e.g. backsheet, encapsulant, cells) with your solar panel supplier (manufacturer or wholesaler)

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* 11. What proof do you require for ensuring that the modules comply with your quality assurance expectations? (Check all that apply)

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 33% of survey complete.

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