Investors and politicians have been debating the merits of solar power for decades. In the late '70s and early '80s, the industry went through a boom because of government subsidies that were extremely short-lived, and it took until a subsidy-driven boom in Germany in the early 2000s to get back on the map again. Solar power was always a pipe dream that couldn't get off the ground, unable to compete with fossil fuels that were cheap and plentiful.
But over the past decade, the narrative has changed. Today, solar power is becoming a force in energy, and while subsidies play a role in solar energy's growth, it's the falling cost of solar power that's driving the boom. Like it or not, solar power is here to stay.
The U.S. begins to see the light
The entrenched energy industry and political powers in the U.S. have been fighting any assistance to the solar industry, but their efforts have failed to slow down its growing momentum. Last year, Congress failed to extend the 1603 Treasury Grant program -- a 30% cash grant given to anyone who installed solar -- cutting one of the main subsidies to the industry. Solar installers were still left with an investment tax credit, but that requires taxable income, creating a financing challenge. �
5 Best Long Term Stocks To Watch Right Now: Real Goods Solar Inc.(RSOL)
Real Goods Solar, Inc. operates as a residential and commercial solar energy integrator primarily in California and Colorado. The company provides engineering, procurement, and construction services. It offers various turnkey solar energy services, including design, procurement, permitting, build-out, grid connection, financing referrals, and warranty and customer satisfaction services. The company installs residential and small commercial systems that range between 3 kilowatts and 1 megawatt output. It also engages in the retail sale of renewable energy products. The company was founded in 1978 and is based in Louisville, Colorado.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Bryan Murphy]
My enthusiasm regarding Real Goods Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ:RSOL) and Westinghouse Solar Inc. (OTCMKTS:WEST) hasn't exactly been a veiled secret. Though I've favored one over the other at various times since the entire solar panel industry went back into high gear in the middle of the second quarter, I've been a fan of both RSOL as well as WEST for a while. The trick has been finding the right entry spot for both of these volatile stocks.
- [By Bryan Murphy]
Last Thursday when I suggested American Community (OTCMKTS:ACYD) was a stock that should be shed immediately, and replaced with a position in Real Goods Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ:RSOL), I didn't win a lot of friends. After all, ACYD was the market's newest darling, in the middle of a red-hot runup, while RSOL was "just another solar name" that happened to be lucky enough to stumble its way above a key support line. Well, I hate to be the one to day I told you so, but, I told you so. American Community shares are down 35% since then, while Real Goods Solar shares are up 36% in the meantime. Both stocks seem pretty well entrenched in their current trends too.
Top Solar Companies To Buy Right Now: Peabody Energy Corporation(BTU)
Peabody Energy Corporation engages in the mining of coal. It mines, prepares, and sells thermal coal to electric utilities and metallurgical coal to industrial customers. The company owns interests in 30 coal mining operations located in the United States and Australia, as well as owns joint venture interest in a Venezuela mine. It is also involved in marketing, brokering, and trading coal. In addition, the company develops a mine-mouth coal-fueled generating plant; and Btu Conversion projects that are designed to convert coal to natural gas or transportation fuels; and clean coal technologies. As of December 31, 2011, it had 9 billion tons of proven and probable coal reserves. The company was founded in 1883 and is headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Reuben Brewer]
Peabody Energy (NYSE: BTU ) is the largest and most diversified publicly traded pure-play coal miner. Its first quarter loss of nearly $0.20 a share doesn't inspire confidence in the broader coal market's future. But the company's global footprint does provide a glimpse of what's going on throughout the industry.�
- [By Robert Rapier]
For years the coal industry has suggested that carbon capture and storage technologies would come along to save the day. But this year the Norwegian government abandoned support for a project that was supposed to demonstrate carbon capture and storage on commercial scale. Thus, coal in the US appears to be on the way out.
US coal producers have been battered as a result. Leading suppliers Peabody Energy (NYSE: BTU) and Arch Coal (NYSE: ACI) saw their share prices decline by another 30 percent and 40 percent, respectively, in 2013. This was on top of steep declines in 2011 and 2012, so that the total market capitalization of BTU and ACI has declined by 71 percent and 87 percent over the last three years.
No country in the world has decreased coal consumption as much in recent years as has the US. This explains the declining fortunes of coal companies with significant operations in the US. But no country has increased coal consumption as much as China. In fact, were it not for China, global consumption of coal would have decreased over the past five years. Instead, the world continues to set new records for coal consumption.
- [By Ben Levisohn]
Alpha Natural Resources (ANR) has dropped 23% in 2013, while Arch Coal (ACI) has fallen 39% and Peabody Energy (BTU) is off 28%. Only Consol Energy (CNX) among the larger miners is up this year, having gained a stock-market lagging 15% after saying it would look for ways to reduce its exposure to the business.
Top Solar Companies To Buy Right Now: JA Solar Holdings Co. Ltd.(JASO)
JA Solar Holdings Co., Ltd., through its subsidiaries, engages in the design, development, manufacture, and sale of photovoltaic solar cells and solar products, which convert sunlight into electricity in the People's Republic of China. The company?s principal products include monocrystalline and multicrystalline solar cells, as well as various solar modules. It also provides silicon wafer and solar cell processing services. The company sells its products primarily under the JA Solar brand name, as well as produces equipment for original equipment manufacturing customers under their brand names. It sells its solar cell and module products primarily to module manufacturers, system integrators, project developers, and distributors in the Germany, Italy, the United States, Hong Kong, Spain, India, the Czech Republic, France, and South Korea. The company has strategic partnerships with various solar power companies, such as BP Solar, Solar-Fabrik, and MEMC/SunEdison. JA Solar Holdings Co., Ltd. was founded in 2005 and is based in Shanghai, the People?s Republic of China.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Paul Ausick]
JA Solar Holdings Co. Ltd. (NASDAQ: JASO) reported its first positive quarterly earnings in more than two years Monday morning to become the latest solar energy company to draw a line under the recovery of the solar photovoltaic (PV) makers. Some have done better than others, but compared with what was happening in the sector two or three years ago, 2014 has so far been a miracle year for solar makers.
- [By Travis Hoium]
What: After a two-day run-up in solar stocks, the party ended quickly, and every stock in the industry is dropping like a rock. Suntech Power (NYSE: STP ) led the declines by falling 23%, and LDK Solar (NYSE: LDK ) , Yingli Green Energy (NYSE: YGE ) , and JA Solar (NASDAQ: JASO ) all dropped at least 15%.
Top Solar Companies To Buy Right Now: Canadian Solar Inc.(CSIQ)
Canadian Solar Inc. engages in the design, development, manufacture, and sale of solar power products in Canada and internationally. The company offers solar cell and solar module products that convert sunlight into electricity for various uses. Its products include a range of standard solar modules for use in a range of residential, commercial, and industrial solar power generation systems. The company also designs and produces specialty solar modules and products consisting of customized modules that its customers incorporate into their products, such as solar-powered bus stop lighting; and specialty products, such as portable solar home systems and solar-powered car battery chargers. In addition, it sells solar system kits, a package consisting of solar modules produced by it and third party supplied components, such as inverters, racking system, and other accessories, as well as implements solar power development projects. The company sells its products under the Canad ian Solar brand name. Canadian Solar Inc. offers its standard solar modules through a direct sales force and sales agents primarily to distributors, system integrators, and original equipment manufacturer customers, as well as to solar projects; and specialty solar modules and products to the automotive, telecommunications, and light-emitting diode lighting sectors. The company was founded in 2001 and is based in Kitchener, Canada.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Wall Street Strategies]
Naturally the news is a big positive for the industry, with Chinese solar names like Yingli (YGE), Trina (TSL), Canadian Solar (CSIQ) -- which is actually Chinese despite its name -- JinkoSolar (JKS), JA Solar (JASO), and LDK Solar (LDK) each up more than 10% at midday. The Guggenheim Solar ETF (TAN), which tracks several global solar companies, was up 8%, breaking to a new 52-week high.
- [By Travis Hoium]
Chinese solar companies have been reporting massive losses, but one company has improved its financial performance and strategic position significantly over the past year. In the following video, solar analyst Travis Hoium covers why he thinks Canadian Solar (NASDAQ: CSIQ ) is a likely candidate to emerge from Chinese solar consolidation, even better than big names such as Yingli Green Energy (NYSE: YGE ) and Trina Solar (NYSE: TSL ) . If the company is able to return to profitability, the sky is the limit for Canadian Solar.�
Top Solar Companies To Buy Right Now: EMCORE Corporation(EMKR)
EMCORE Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, provides compound semiconductor-based products for the broadband, fiber optics, satellite, and solar power markets. The company operates in two segments, Fiber Optics and Photovoltaics. The Fiber Optics segment offers broadband products, including cable television, fiber-to-the-premises, satellite communication, video transport, and defense and homeland security products; and digital products comprising telecom optical, enterprise, laser/photodetector component, parallel optical transceiver and cable, and fiber channel transceiver products. This segment?s products enable information that is encoded on light signals to be transmitted, routed, and received in communication systems and networks. The Photovoltaics segment provides gallium arsenide (GaAs) multi-junction solar cells, covered interconnected cells, and solar panels for satellite applications; and concentrating photovoltaic (CPV) power systems for commercial and utility scale solar applications, as well as GaAs solar cells and integrated CPV components for use in other solar power concentrator systems. The company markets its products through its direct sales force, external sales representatives and distributors, and application engineers worldwide. EMCORE Corporation was founded in 1984 and is headquartered in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By CRWE]
EMCORE Corporation (Nasdaq:EMKR), a leading provider of compound semiconductor-based components and subsystems for the fiber optic and solar power markets, reported that it is ramping production and shipping the Opticomm-EMCORE NEXTGEN OTP-1DVI2A1SU insert cards for the Optiva platform.
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