Where to invest in Solar Energy

Given the stock volatility, company bankruptcies and massive losses, investing in solar energy can be very tricky. However, the industry has grown by more than 50% CAGR over the last 10 years and will continue to grow at a fast clip in the future. Solar energy has already reached retail grid price parity in a number of places in the world. What that means is that solar energy does not require subsidies from the government anymore. There are a number of good solar companies, which investors can look at. The Suntech bankruptcy has led to a sharp sector sell-off, which has made many of my favorite companies very cheap. Investors can look into the following stocks:

1. ReneSola (SOL)
2. Yingli Green Energy (YGE)
3. SunPower (SPWR)

I am also positive about other stocks like Canadian Solar (CSIQ) and JinkoSolar (JKS).

Renesola was established in 2005 and is a leading global photovoltaic manufacturer. The company has its own R&D team and advanced production equipment. Renesola is a vertically integrated company with complete R&D and manufacturing of polysilicon, silicon wafer and solar modules. Renesola has a global presence with sales branches established in Europe, the Americas and the Asia-Pacific regions. Renesola Ltd. is a leading manufacturer of silicon wafers & solar modules. This Chinese solar company is one of the lowest cost producer of solar wafer in the world. It is expanding into other parts of the supply chain. Like LDK Solar, Renesola sells most of its Solar Panels under an OEM Contract. Read more about ReneSola.

Yingli Green Energy is one of the oldest Chinese companies and is completely integrated from polysilicon.The company has been expanding rapidly and has one of the lowest cost structures in the industry.Yingli is the second biggest producer of Solar Panels in China. One of the world’s first fully vertically integrated photovoltaic manufacturers, the company develops, manufactures, and sells high-quality modules under the brand Yingli Solar to a wide range of markets, including Germany, Spain, Italy, Greece, France, South Korea, China, and the United States. The company is headquartered in Baoding, China with over 11,000 employees worldwide & more than 10 branch offices globally. Read more about Yingli Green Energy.

Sunpower is a US company which makes the most efficient solar panels using its monocrystalline solar cell technology which gives efficiency of more than 24%. The company sells black solar panels with efficiency of 18-20% . The company is a solar system integrator and developer as well building some of the largest solar farms in the US. The company was recently bought by the French Oil Giant Total. Sunpower operates in all the main segments of the market and has reputation for selling some of the highest quality solar panels in the country. Read more about SunPower.