5 Best Solar Stocks To Buy For 2014

The solar industry is doing fairly well around the world this year. Recent data shows that U.S. installations were up 33% in the first quarter, Japan is growing rapidly, and China is investing billions to grow domestic demand.�

But all of these positives couldn't help LDK Solar (NYSE: LDK  ) post decent numbers, and the company continues to slip closer and closer to bankruptcy. First-quarter sales were just $104.3 million, which isn't even double the quarterly interest expense of $58 million, and net loss was $187.1 million.�

Management also announced that it is in talks with lenders to refinance $2.9 billion worth of debt after partially defaulting on a $24 million bond earlier this year. If this were the U.S., debtors would have pushed the company into bankruptcy by now, but Chinese state-run banks hold most of the debt, so a solution is very difficult for investors to predict.�

What is known is that LDK Solar is nowhere near profitability and won't be for a long time. Debt has a stranglehold on the company, and without a bailout from China, there's no way the company survives. That means this stock is hands off to investors.�

Best Long Term Companies To Invest In 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]

  Three weeks ago, I recommended Real Goods Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ:RSOL) as a buy. Though the stock was still drifting in the shadow of a huge May pullback - from a high of $7.17 to a low of $2.13 by mid-June - RSOL was finding some support at key moving average lines, and even pushing up and off of them. Not many of you (and I'm using "you" interchangeably with "investors in general") seemed to care. So why am I looking at Real Goods Solar again now? Because, with competitors LDK Solar Co., Ltd (NYSE:LDK) and ReneSola Ltd. (NYSE:SOL) seeing their shares surge today, odds are good RSOL is going to get swept up in that move. Real Goods Solar shares are a better bet, however, in that - unlike SOL and LDK - they aren't overbought yet.

• [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.

5 Best Solar Stocks To Buy For 2014: 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 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%.

5 Best Solar Stocks To Buy For 2014: 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.

5 Best Solar Stocks To Buy For 2014: JinkoSolar Holding Company Limited(JKS)

JinkoSolar Holding Co., Ltd., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the manufacture and sale of solar power products in China and internationally. The company provides solar modules, silicon wafers and ingots, and solar cells, as well as processing services, including silicon wafer tolling services. It sells its products under the JinkoSolar brand name. The company?s customers include distributors, project developers, and system integrators. It trades its products under short-term contracts and by spot market sales. The company also produces accessory materials for solar power products, such as solar aluminum frame, solar junction box, aluminum materials windows, and other metal component parts. JinkoSolar Holding Co., Ltd. was founded in 2006 and is based in Shangrao, the People?s Republic of China.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Rick Munarriz]

  Briefly in the news
  And now let's take a quick look at some of the other stories that shaped our week.

  VeriFone (NYSE: PAY  ) shares tumbled 21% on Thursday, after the transactions enabler missed Wall Street's profit expectations and issued disappointing guidance. VeriFone wasn't very fun. TiVo (NASDAQ: TIVO  ) can't catch a break. The DVR pioneer was on the receiving end of a $490 million settlement, but the stock still took a hit because it was less than the market was expecting. Go figure. TiVo's intellectual capital alone has been enough to be awarded $1.6 billion in damages in recent years, but the company's enterprise value is a mere $1 billion. Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN  ) is not the second coming of Webvan, but it is expanding its AmazonFresh grocery delivery service to Los Angeles. It's been testing the service fir years in select neighborhoods in its home turf of Seattle. JinkoSolar (NYSE: JKS  ) moved higher on Friday after reporting a 36% surge in shipments. Solar energy was out of favor last year, but some players are starting to show signs of brightening.

• [By Lisa Levin]

  JinkoSolar Holding Co (NYSE: JKS) dropped 9.88% to $16.87 after the company announced the offering of 3,500,000 American Depositary Shares.

  Fuwei Films (Holdings) Co (NASDAQ: FFHL) dropped 9.66% to $1.30. Fuwei Films' trailing-twelve-month ROE is -10.85%.