ACKNOWLEDGEMENT The authors wish to thank those representatives of U.S. Industry who freely and generously gave of their scarce time and their energy to give this study and report what merit it has. The interpretation and expression of their contributions is the responsibility of the authors and of the MITRE Corporation. V Criteria for Selecting Solar-Energy-Industry Selection of Solar-Energy-Industry Sample Members APPENDIX III INDUSTRY STATEMENTS ABOUT THE SERI BACKGROUND MATERIAL AND QUESTIONS ON THE SERI 51 SUMMARY The MITRE Corporation has performed a study designed to acquire and report to the U.S. Energy Research and Development Administration a sampling of industry opinions on the appropriate role of the Solar Energy Research Institute (SERI) in the development of practical solar energy conversion and utilization systems, and industry recommendations on the proper organizational structure for SERI to fulfill that role. MITRE was not asked to evaluate industry responses or develop recommendations, simply to report the opinions collected. A small sample of large and small solar industries and regulated public utilities was selected. Their opinions were solicited through mailed questionnaires, personal and telephone interviews and a daylong conference. The outstanding characteristic of the responses of the industry sample was their diversity. Even in areas where considerable agreement appeared, some respondents disagreed. Three principal roles for SERI emerged: Information and Consulting Services; Technology Development; and Product Performance Certification. Within these roles, the functions below were recommended. They are listed here in order of frequency of recommendation. Information and Consulting Services Considerable Interest: Information Transfer between Government, Industry and Universities Resource Assessment Solar Energy Information Data Base Operation Less Interest: Market Research Proposal Evaluation Environmental Effects Research Education in Installation Engineering Technology Development Considerable Interest: Basic Research in Materials and Techniques Less Interest: Equipment Engineering Operation of Demonstration Systems Systems Engineering Production Engineering Product Performance Certification Considerable Interest: Test and Evaluation of Equipments and Systems Recommendations on the proportion of effort to be expended inhouse versus contracted-out ranged from 6% to 100% in-house, with a median of about 37% in-house. Of those who made recommendations, most thought SERI should report to the Assistant Administrator of ERDA for Solar, Geothermal and Advanced Energy Systems. Most respondents thought SERI should be a private organization, not a government laboratory, but no consensus emerged on the preferred organizational form. Some participants felt strongly that SERI should be located in an area of high insolation, but most felt that a location where good people would like to work, a technical-industrial community, and easy access were much more important as location criteria. General agreement was apparent on the need for subordinate specialized field sites. The recommended size for SERI ranged from 25 to 1000 professional staff, with a median of about 120. The proportion of the ERDA solar energy R&D budget to be spent for SERI ranged from 5% to 100% with a median of about 12%. A number of respondents emphasized the need for strong ties of communication and cooperation between SERI and industry. Several called for technical review committees with industry representation. Recommendations for industry on SERI's governing board ranged from a minority to a dominant majority. Several respondents expressed themselves as being strongly opposed to university participation in SERI's management, but some reacted favorably to this point while the remainder were indifferent. |