Top 5 Solar Stocks To Watch Right Now

Small cap green stocks Building Turbines Inc (OTCMKTS: BLDW), Virtual Sourcing, Inc (OTCMKTS: PGCX) and Unseen Solar, Inc (OTCMKTS: PCWT) have been getting some attention lately in various investment newsletters in part because some ��reen�� is being paid out in the form of paid promotions or investor relation activity. Of course, there is nothing wrong with properly disclosed paid promotions, but you do need to remember that small cap stocks (especially those in new ��reen�� industries) already come with risk. With that in mind, here is a quick reality check about these three green small cap stocks and whether you can expect to see some green in the form of profits:

Building Turbines Inc (OTCMKTS: BLDW) Has Secured a $5 Million Line of Credit

Small cap Building Turbines Inc is focused on the design and manufacture of patented rooftop wind turbines as well as vertically integrating them into other renewable energy solutions to complete a total ��reen Energy Solution��for any urban environment. Building Turbines Inc�� subsidiary, Green City Planet, is also a premier provider of LED lighting and environmentally sound industrial solutions. On Friday, Building Turbines Inc fell 9.76% to $0.0370 for a market cap of $8.71 million plus BLDW is up 51% over the past year and down 87.2% since June 2011 according to Google Finance.

Top 5 Solar Stocks To Watch Right Now: Renesola Ltd.(SOL)

ReneSola Ltd, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the manufacture and sale of solar wafers and solar power products. It offers virgin polysilicons, monocrystalline and multicrystalline solar wafers, and photovoltaic cells and modules. The company also provides cell and module processing services. Its products are used in a range of residential, commercial, industrial, and other solar power generation systems. The company sells its solar wafers primarily to solar cell and module manufacturers. It principally operates in Mainland China, Singapore, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Korea, India, Australia, Germany, Italy, Spain, Belgium, France, the Czech Republic, and the United States. The company was founded in 2003 and is based in Jiashan, the People?s Republic of China.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Monica Gerson]

  Breaking news

  Vitran Corporation (NASDAQ: VTNC) announced today that it has entered into a definitive arrangement agreement with TransForce pursuant to which TransForce has agreed to acquire all of the outstanding common shares of Vitran not already owned by TransForce for US$6.50 in cash per share, in accordance with TransForce's prior proposal. To read the full news, click here. ReneSola (NYSE: SOL) today announced it signed a Memorandum of Intent (MOI) to sell three utility-scale projects in Western China, with a total capacity of 60MW, to Jiangsu Akcome Solar Science & Technology Co on December 30, 2013. To read the full news, click here. Cooper Tire & Rubber Company (NYSE: CTB) today announced it has terminated the merger agreement with Apollo Tyres (NSE:ApolloTYRE). To read the full news, click here. RedHill Biopharma (NASDAQ: RDHL) today announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement with leading healthcare investor OrbiMed Israel Partners Limited Partnership, an affiliate of OrbiMed Advisors LLC, for the sale of RedHill's American Depository Shares and warrants in a private placement transactionor a total sum of $6.0 million. To read the full news, click here.

  Posted-In: Guggenheim US Stock FuturesNews Eurozone Futures Global Pre-Market Outlook Markets

• [By Travis Hoium]

  What: Shares of solar manufacturer ReneSola (NYSE: SOL  ) jumped as much as 26% today after the company increased guidance.

  So what: Management said that second-quarter shipments would be 760 MW-770 MW, well above the previous expectation of 700 MW-720 MW. Gross margin is also expected to be 5%-6%, above the 3%-5% previously expected. �

• [By Laura Brodbeck]

  Thursday

  Earnings Expected From: UTi Worldwide Inc. (NASDAQ: UTIW), Renesola Ltd. (NYSE: SOL), Royal Bank of Canada (NYSE: RY), Kroger Company (NYSE: KR), Dollar General Corporation (NYSE: DG), Diamond Foods, Inc. (NASDAQ: DMND) Economic Releases Expected: US factory orders, French unemployment rate, Bank of England interest rate decision, US GDP

  Friday

• [By Travis Hoium]

  There will be winners, though. Shares of polysilicon maker Renewable Energy fell 7% in trading immediately after the announcement because the company will likely see either lower prices or lower demand. But shares of GCL Poly, who manufactures in China and is the biggest polysilicon maker in the world, jumped 4% on Friday after the news was announced.�Renesola� (NYSE: SOL  ) and LDK Solar� (NYSE: LDK  ) also have lots of unused polysilicon capacity that will likely experience more demand because of the move. The question is if they have sufficient quality to supply the industry.

Top 5 Solar Stocks To Watch Right Now: Yingli Green Energy Holding Company Limited(YGE)

Yingli Green Energy Holding Company Limited, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the design, development, manufacture, marketing, sale, and installation of photovoltaic (PV) products in the People?s Republic of China and internationally. The company offers PV cells, PV modules, and integrated PV systems, as well as polysilicon ingots, blocks, and wafers. It sells its PV modules to distributors, wholesalers, power plant developers and operators, and PV system integrators in Germany, the United States, Italy, China, Spain, the Netherlands, Greece, the Czech Republic, the United Kingdom, South Korea, and Japan under the Yingli and Yingli Solar brand names. The company also offers its integrated PV systems directly to end-users or to contractors for use in the electricity projects, as well as to mobile communications companies in the People's Republic of China. Yingli Green Energy Holding Company Limited was founded in 1998 and is headquartered in Baoding, the People? s Republic of China.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Travis Hoium]

  Another record in solar
  We've been hearing about solar efficiency records for years. Yingli Green Energy (NYSE: YGE  ) said that its Panda cells reached 19.89% efficiency way back in 2011. Trina Solar's Honey technology can reach 19.6% efficiency. Then there's the efficiency leader, SunPower (NASDAQ: SPWR  ) , whose Maxeon cells can be 24% efficient, creating a 21.5% efficient production module.

Top 10 Airline Companies To Invest In 2015: 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 Michael Cintolo]

  Canadian Solar (CSIQ) is a Chinese solar company that's headquartered in Ontario. The company makes silicon ingots, wafers, solar cells, and modules, and ranks among the largest solar companies in the world.

• [By Peter Graham]

  The Q1 2014 earnings report for Canadian Solar Inc (NASDAQ: CSIQ), sort of a peer of other North America based solar stocks like SolarCity Corp (NASDAQ: SCTY), First Solar, Inc (NASDAQ: FSLR) and SunPower Corporation (NASDAQ: SPWR), is scheduled for before the market opens on Friday. Aside from the Canadian Solar's earnings report, it should be said that SunPower Corporation reported Q1 2014 earnings on April 24 (reporting a quarterly profit verses a year ago loss plus they noted ��trong demand��for rooftop solar business); First Solar, Inc reported Q1 2014 earnings on May 6 (they beat expectations and gave a higher guidance); and SolarCity Corp reported Q1 2014 earnings on May 7 (included deeper-than-expected losses with even deeper losses to come but they also gave a higher rooftop installation forecast that sent shares upward).

• [By Paul Ausick]

  But what does this resurrection mean for investors? With a couple of exceptions, solar stocks hit a peak in 2008. First Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR) topped $300 a share briefly, SunPower Corp. (NASDAQ: SPWR) topped $125 a share, JA Solar hit $120, Canadian Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: CSIQ) topped $40 and Trina Solar Ltd. (NYSE: TSL) reached its peak of more than $35 in mid-2007. At today’s prices one almost has to wonder if we are talking about the same companies. The only stock trading anywhere near its peak price of six years ago is Canadian Solar. JinkoSolar is near its all-time high again, but it was not publicly traded until mid-2010.

• [By Travis Hoium]

  Don't look now but SunPower (NASDAQ: SPWR  ) has become the best-performing stock in the solar industry. Over the past year, it's been better than fellow U.S.-based companies First Solar (NASDAQ: FSLR  ) and SolarCity (NASDAQ: SCTY  ) , and far better than most Chinese manufacturers. Yingli Green Energy (NYSE: YGE  ) and Trina Solar lag well behind even after recent pops higher; only Canadian Solar (NASDAQ: CSIQ  ) can come close to SunPower's return (and I'll get into the reason for that below).

Top 5 Solar Stocks To Watch Right Now: LDK Solar Co. Ltd.(LDK)

LDK Solar Co., Ltd., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the design, development, manufacture, and marketing of photovoltaic (PV) products; and development of power plant projects. It offers solar-grade and semiconductor-grade polysilicon; and multicrystalline and monocrystalline solar wafers to the manufacturers of solar cells and solar modules. The company also provides wafer processing services to monocrystalline and multicrystalline solar cell and module manufacturers; and sells silicon materials, such as ingots and polysilicon scraps. In addition, it engages in the production and sale of solar cells and modules to developers, distributors, and system integrators; and design and development of solar power projects in Europe, the United States, and China, as well as provides engineering, procurement, and construction services. LDK Solar Co., Ltd. operates in Europe, the Asia Pacific, and North America. The company was founded in 2005 and is based in Xinyu City, t he People?s Republic of China.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Travis Hoium]

  In China, LDK Solar (NYSE: LDK  ) and Yingli Green Energy (NYSE: YGE  ) are trying to grow in systems but with billions of dollars in debt and extremely low margins they can't compete with First Solar. So, even their higher-efficiency modules put them behind the curve.

• [By Aaron Levitt]

  Both Suntech and Chaori Solar have already filed, while LDK (LDK) is in the process of doing so and delisting from the NYSE.

  All of this negative activity doesn�� inspire a whole lot of confidence in Chinese solar stocks. For investors, the best course of action could be to bail on the sector completely or at least move out of individual names and into a broad play like the TAN or Market Vectors Solar Energy ETF (KWT).

• [By Travis Hoium]

  Solar tariffs in Europe started at a low 11% rate last week, but if a deal between Europe, China, and even the U.S. isn't reached by Aug. 6 then they could go up to as much as 68%. This is clearly a negative development for Chinese manufacturers like Yingli Green Energy (NYSE: YGE  ) , LDK Solar (NYSE: LDK  ) , and Trina Solar (NYSE: TSL  ) , but it's not necessarily good for U.S. companies either. First Solar (NASDAQ: FSLR  ) has little presence in Europe right now and SunPower (NASDAQ: SPWR  ) won't see much benefit from tariffs either. In the end, tariffs are bad for nearly everyone, a sentiment Travis Hoium covers in the video below.�

• [By Jeremy Bowman]

  What: Shares of Chinese stocks were getting dumped today following the Shanghai Composite's 5.3% plunge last night. Among those feeling the pain were YY (NASDAQ: YY  ) , Dangdang (NYSE: DANG  ) , Trina Solar (NYSE: TSL  ) , Giant Interactive (NYSE: GA  ) , and LDK Solar (NYSE: LDK  ) , all of which were down by 10% or more at one point today.

Top 5 Solar Stocks To Watch 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]

  Chinese solar companies are a different story. Many manufacture their own silicon wafers and sell silicon to other makers. Trina Solar Ltd. (NYSE: TSL), LDK Solar Co. Ltd. (NYSE: LDK), JA Solar Holdings Co. Ltd. (NASDAQ: JASO) and Canadian Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: CSIQ) all manufacture and sell solar ingots, wafers or cells.