A: The solar business got a brutal sunburn following the Solyndra debacle.
The California-based maker of solar gear filed for bankruptcy in late August after receiving a $535 million loan backed by the Federal government. Hopes were so high for the company that it was visited by President Obama to highlight the bright future of the U.S. clean energy industry.
Before going any further, let’s be clear. This column isn’t a place to discuss politics and it’s well beyond the scope to talk about government policy and how it pertains to this case. You can take that discussion to the comment section below.
But from an investment standpoint, it’s clear investors got a healthy dose of reality on the failure of Solyndra. Given the world’s demand for clean and abundant energy, there’s no shortage of enthusiasm over the industry by investors. But even the federal government, given its resources and expertise, suffered a big mistake investing in the area. And that should be a clear reminder of the perils of betting on this emerging and speculative field.
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With that disclaimer in mind, there is no shortage of ways for investors to buy into solar energy. One of the largest U.S. players is First Solar(FSLR). The company, valued at more than $5 billion, is a leading player in U.S. solar technology. The company makes a variety of solar modules with proprietary thin technology. For most investors looking into the industry First Solar is a natural place to start since it’s one of the more established players.
But First Solar is not alone. Below is a list of some of the solar stocks that trade on U.S. exchanges that are considered to be competitors in the industry:
Canadian Solar, CSIQ
Comverge, COMV
DayStar, DSTI
ECOtality, ECTY
Energy Conversion Devices, ENER
EnerNOC, ENOC
General Electric, GE
Hanwha SolarOne, HSOL
Honeywell, HON
JA Solar, JASO
Johnson Controls, JCI
LDK Solar, LDK
MEMC Electronic, WFR
NextEra, NEE
Ocean Power, OPTT
Ormat, ORA
Real Goods Solar, RSOL
ReneSola, SOL
Westinghouse Solar, WEST
But again, I stress, the solar industry is very much in its early stages. Investing in this area is only for speculators and people willing to lose their investments. After all, even the government with the counsel of the Department of Labor made it own bum “clean” investment.
Matt Krantz is a financial markets reporter at USA TODAY and author of Investing Online for Dummies and Fundamental Analysis for Dummies. He answers a different reader question every weekday in his Ask Matt column at money.usatoday.com. To submit a question, e-mail Matt at mkrantz@usatoday.com. Follow Matt on Twitter at: twitter.com/mattkrantz