Annual Solar Thermal Collector Manufacturers Survey and Annual Photovoltaic Module/Cell Manufacturers Survey

U.S. Department of Energy
Energy Information Administration

EIA-63A
(06/07)

Form Approved
OMB NO. 1905-0196
Expires:

FORM EIA-63A
ANNUAL SOLAR THERMAL COLLECTOR MANUFACTURERS SURVEY
GENERAL INFORMATION AND INSTRUCTIONS
I. Purpose
Form EIA-63A is designed to provide the data necessary for the Energy Information
Administration (EIA), U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), to carry out its responsibilities for
tracking collector shipments in the solar collector manufacturing industry and for providing
information concerning the size and status of the industry. The data collected will be published in
the Renewable Energy Annual and also be available through EIA's Internet site at
http://www.eia.doe.gov/fuelrenewable.html.
II. Who Should Respond to This Survey
This report is mandatory and required pursuant to the authority granted to the Department of
Energy (DOE) by the Federal Energy Information Administration Act of 1974 (Public Law 93275. Form EIA-63A is to be submitted by companies in the U.S. (including U.S. territories and
possessions) (1) that manufactured and shipped (including exporting) solar thermal collectors
and/or (2) that imported and shipped solar thermal collectors during the survey year. If you are
completing this survey form for the first time but were active in the industry during the previous
survey year, please photocopy the entire form and provide us with data for the previous year also.
III. Where to Submit Completed Forms
Submit your data electronically using EIA’s Internet Data Collection (IDC) system. All
respondents for whom EIA has an e-mail address will be notified of the procedure for submitting
using the IDC system.
If you need an alternate means of filing your response or have questions about the data requested
on Form EIA-63A, please contact the Survey Manager, Peter Wong at [email protected]
or (202) 586-7574.
Please retain a completed copy of this form for your files.
IV. When to Submit Completed Forms
The survey year is from January 1 through December 31 each year. Completed EIA-63A forms
are due by March 1 the following year.
V. Sanctions
The timely submission of Form EIA-63A by those required to report is mandatory under Section
13(b) of the Federal Energy Administration Act of 1974 (FEAA) (Public Law 93-275), as
amended. Failure to respond may result in a penalty of not more than $2,750 per day for each
civil violation, or a fine of not more than $5,000 per day for each criminal violation. The

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government may bring a civil action to prohibit reporting violations, which may result in a
temporary restraining order or a preliminary or permanent injunction without bond. In such civil
action, the court may also issue mandatory injunctions commanding any person to comply with
these reporting requirements. Title 18 U.S.C. 1001 makes it a criminal offense for any person
knowingly and willingly to make to any Agency or Department of the United States any
false, fictitious, or fraudulent statements as to any matter within its jurisdiction.
VI. Provisions Regarding Confidentiality of Information
The information reported on this form will be protected and not disclosed to the public to the
extent that it satisfies the criteria for exemption under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), 5
U.S.C. §552, the Department of Energy regulations, 10 C.F.R. §1004.11, implementing the
FOIA, and the Trade Secrets Act, 18 U.S.C. §1905.
The Federal Energy Administration Act requires the EIA to provide company-specific data to
other Federal agencies when requested for official use. The information reported on this form
may also be made available, upon request, to another component of the Department of Energy
(DOE); to any Committee of Congress, the Government Accountability Office, or other Federal
agencies authorized by law to receive such information. A court of competent jurisdiction may
obtain this information in response to an order. The information may be used for any
nonstatistical purposes such as administrative, regulatory, law enforcement, or adjudicatory
purposes.
Disclosure limitation procedures are applied to the statistical data published from Form EIA-63A
survey information on the dollar value of shipments and complete systems to ensure that the risk
of disclosure of identifiable information is very small.
For all other data published from the Form EIA-63A, disclosure limitation procedures are not
applied. Thus, there may be some statistics that are based on data from fewer than three
respondents, or that are dominated by data from one or two large respondents. In these cases, it
may be possible for a knowledgeable person to estimate the information reported by a specific
respondent.
VII. Filing Forms with Federal Government and Estimated Reporting Burden
Respondents are not required to file or reply to any Federal collection of information unless it has
a valid OMB control number. Public reporting burden for this collection of information is
estimated to average 4.5 hours per response including the time for reviewing instructions,
searching existing data sources, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and
reviewing the collection of information. Send comments regarding this burden estimate or any
other aspect of this collection of information, including suggestions for reducing this burden to
the Energy Information Administration, Statistics and Methods Group, EI-70, 1000 Independence
Ave., S.W., Washington, D.C. 20585-0670, and the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs,
Office of Management and Budget, Washington, D.C. 20503.

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SPECIFIC INSTRUCTIONS
Item

Instruction

1.1 Enter the responding company’s principal business office address and preparer’s office
address.
1.2 Provide the name, title, and contact information for the principal people in your company to
whom questions should be addressed regarding this submission.
2.1 (a-d) Mark as appropriate the manufacturing activity conducted by your company during the
current reporting period. If you answer "Yes" to any one of item 2.1 (a) through (d) please begin
with Item 3.0 and complete the remainder of this form. If you answer "No" to all of item 2.1 (a)
through (d) please complete only items 2.2 and 7.0.
2.2 If you answer "No" to all of items 2.1 (a) through (d), please report whether your company
plans to manufacture, import, or ship solar thermal collectors in the future and, if yes, in what
year.
3.1 (a-i) Report only on activities that are solar-related.
3.2 (a-e) Mark as appropriate if you are planning to introduce a new solar-related product. A new
solar-related product is differentiated from a modified existing product if the "new" product is
different enough to warrant a new model number and requires retesting or recertification under
existing industry standards.
3.3 Enter the total number of person-years expended on solar-related activities during the survey
year. (See glossary of "Person Year" on page 7.)
3.4 "Solar-related activities" includes all activities listed in Item 3.1.
4.1 Enter the square footage (not the number of collectors), in whole numbers (i.e., no decimals),
of solar collectors by type shipped for final consumption or to another organization for resale
(including exports and imports) in the appropriate collector type column. Total (column i) should
be the total square footage of all collector types in that row.
4.2 Enter the total value received for the total collector shipments in Item 4.1 by type.
The value reported should be the total value received for collectors only at your company's net
billing price, freight-on-board factory, including charges for cooperative advertising and
warranties. Do not include excise taxes, freight, or transportation. Report values to the nearest
dollar. Total (column i) should be the total value of all collector types in that row.
4.3 Enter the average thermal performance rating (energy output of the solar collector under
standard conditions) in Btu per square foot per day (Btu/ft2 day).
4.4 For each appropriate sector, enter the square footage of domestic shipments (total shipments
minus exports) by collector type as precisely as possible.
The sector categories in Item 4.4 are:

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4.4 (1) Residential - Solar applications related to any building used for residential occupancy that
has a system for heating or cooling, or both.
4.4 (2) Commercial - Solar applications for use in businesses where services (rather than
products) are provided, such as wholesale and retail trade or health and educational services.
4.4 (3) Industrial - Solar applications for use in businesses where products (rather than services)
are provided, such as the manufacture and processing of goods and basic materials.
4.4 (4) Electric Power - Shipments of solar thermal collectors to electric power sector for use in
power generation or for experimental applications (includes gas and electric utilities). Includes
central stations, decentralized systems or experimental applications.
4.4 (5) Transportation - Shipments of solar thermal collectors to transportation sector for use in
transportation purposes such as railroads and railways.
4.4 (6) Total domestic shipments by sector - Sum sector quantities and enter a total for each row
[4.4 (1)-(5)] in column i. Next, sum columns a through i and enter a total in row 4.4 (6) for each
column. These column totals should equal shipment totals entered under Item 4.1 by column,
minus exports.
4.5 For each end use, enter the square footage of domestic shipments (total shipments minus
exports) by collector type as precisely as possible.
The end-use categories in Item 4.5 are:
4.5 (1) Pool Heating - Self-explanatory.
4.5 (2) Hot Water - Domestic shipments of solar thermal collectors used only for water heating.
4.5 (3) Space Heating - Domestic shipments of solar thermal collectors used only for space
heating.
4.5 (4) Combined space and water heating – Domestic shipments of solar thermal collectors are
used in combination for space and water heating.
4.5 (5) Space cooling - Domestic Shipments of solar thermal collectors used for space cooling (air
conditioning) or for space cooling in combination with water and/or space heating.
4.5 (6) Process heating - Domestic shipments of solar thermal collectors used for industrial
process heating.
4.5 (7) Electricity Generation - Domestic shipments of solar thermal collectors such as
concentrators, linear fresnel lens, heliostats, parabolic dishes, and parabolic troughs used as steam
generators to power electric generators.
4.5 (8) Total end use - Sum end-use quantities and enter a total for each row [4.5 (1)-(8)] in
column i. Next, sum columns a through i and enter a total in row 4.5 (8) for each column. These
column totals should equal shipment totals entered under Item 4.1 by column, minus exports.
4.6 Enter the square footage by collector type. This amount represents the portion of total
collector shipments entered in Item 4.1 that were imported and shipped by your company.
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4.7 Enter the square footage by collector type. This amount represents the portion of total
collector shipments entered in Item 4.1 that were manufactured for export and shipped (sold) to
another country.
4.8 List the country(ies) from which solar collectors reported in Item 4.6 were imported, and
square feet of imports in Item 4.6 for each country listed.
4.9 List the country(ies) to which solar collectors reported in Item 4.7 were exported, and square
feet of exports in Item 4.7 for each country listed.
4.10 For each customer type, enter the square footage of domestic shipments (total shipments
minus exports) by collector type as precisely as possible.
Report (in square feet) the recipients of solar thermal collectors immediately following
manufacturing or warehousing. If recipients overlap (for example, the recipient is both a
wholesale distributor and an installer) report the recipients in the higher category (i.e., a is higher
than b, b is higher than c, etc.).
5.1 Enter number of complete systems shipped from the total in Item 4.1(i).
5.2 Of the collectors reported in Item 4.1(i), enter the square footage that was sold as complete
systems. (A complete system is defined as unit with all the necessary functional components,
except for installation materials. These include thermosiphon systems, integral collector storage
systems, packaged systems, or system kits.)
5.3 The value reported should be total value received for the complete systems at your company's
net billing price, freight-on-board factory, including charges for cooperative advertising and
warranties. (It should include the value of associated collectors.) Do not include excise taxes,
freight or transportation charges, or installation charges. Report values to the nearest dollar.
6.1 Please check the box for each State/U.S. territory or possession in which you manufactured.
If you imported collectors also mark the "Imported" (Code 00) box. Then report the square
footage of your company's collectors manufactured/imported. Report the square footage of your
company's collectors manufactured in the State/U.S. territories listed below under Code 01-78. If
some collectors were imported from another country, please indicate under Code 00 the square
footage and report details about the country of import in question 4.8.
6.2 Please check the box for each State/U.S. territory or possession to which you shipped. If you
exported collectors also mark the "Exported" (Code 00) box. Then report the square footage of
your company's collectors shipped/exported. Report the square footage of your company's
collectors shipped in the State/U.S. territories listed below under Code 01-78. If some collectors
were exported to another country, please indicate under Code 00 the square footage and report
details about the country of export in question 4.9.
7.0 This item provides additional space for comments. For clarification purposes, identify item,
line number and column (if applicable) for each comment.

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GLOSSARY
Air collector: A medium-temperature collector used predominantly in space heating, utilizing
pumped air as the heat-transfer medium.
Concentrator: A reflective or refractive device that focuses incident insolation onto an area
smaller than the reflective or refractive surface, resulting in increased insolation at the point of
focus.
Evacuated-tube collector: A collector in which solar thermal heat is captured by use of a
collector fluid that flows through an absorber tube contained inside an evacuated glass tube.
Export (solar): A shipment of solar thermal collectors and/or photovoltaic devices sent from the
United States and any of its territories to a foreign country.
Flat plate pumped: A medium-temperature solar thermal collector that typically consists of a
metal frame, glazing, absorbers (usually metal), and insulation and that uses a pumped liquid as
the heat-transfer medium: predominant use is in water-heating applications.
High-temperature collector: A solar thermal collector designed to operate at a temperature of
180 degrees Fahrenheit or higher.
Import (solar): A shipment of solar thermal collectors and/or photovoltaic devices into the
United States and any of its territories from foreign countries.
Integral collector storage (ICS): A solar thermal collector in which incident solar radiation is
absorbed directly by the storage medium.
Liquid collector: A medium-temperature solar thermal collector, employed predominantly in
water heating, which uses pumped liquid as the heat-transfer medium.
Low temperature collectors: Metallic or nonmetallic collectors that generally operate at
temperatures below 110 degrees Fahrenheit and use pumped liquid or air as the heat transfer
medium. They usually contain no glazing and no insulation, and they are often made of plastic or
rubber, although some are made of metal.
Medium-temperature collector: A collector designed to operate in the temperature range of 140
degrees to 180 degrees Fahrenheit, but that can also operate at a temperature as low as 110
degrees Fahrenheit. The collector typically consists of a metal frame, metal absorption panels
with integral flow channels (attached tubing for liquid collectors or integral ducting for air
collectors), and glazing and insulation on the sides and back.
Parabolic dish: A high-temperature (above 180 degrees Fahrenheit) solar thermal concentrator,
generally bowl-shaped, with two-axis tracking.
Parabolic trough: A high temperature (above 180 degrees Fahrenheit) solar thermal concentrator
with the capacity for tracking the sun using one axis of rotation.

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Person-year: One whole year, or fraction thereof, worked by an employee, including contracted
manpower. Expressed as a quotient (to two decimal places) of the time units worked during a
year (hours, weeks, or months) divided by the like total time units in a year. For example: 80
hours worked is 0.04 (rounded) of a person-year; 8 weeks worked is 0.15 (rounded) of a personyear; 12 months worked is 1.0 person-year. Contracted manpower includes survey crews, drilling
crews, consultants, and other persons who worked under contract to support a firm's ongoing
operations.
Solar thermal collector: A device designed to receive solar radiation and convert it to thermal
energy. Normally, a solar thermal collector includes a frame, glazing, and an absorber, together
with appropriate insulation. The heat collected by the solar collector may be used immediately or
stored for later use. Solar collectors are used for space heating; domestic hot water heating; and
heating swimming pools, hot tubs, or spas.
Solar thermal collector performance rating: An analytically derived set of number
representing the characteristic all-day energy output of the solar collector under standard rating
conditions measures in Btu per square foot per day (Btu/ft2 day).
Thermosiphon system: A solar collector system for water heating in which circulation of the
collection fluid through the storage loop is provided solely by the temperature and density
difference between the hot and cold fluids.

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