Out Fox The $treet

Summary Buying Silevo makes SolarCity into a vertical integrator in the solar space. Higher efficiency modules promised aren't as industry leading as promised. The stock valuations of vertical integrators in the solar industry leave a lot to be desired. With the announcement a couple of weeks ago that SolarCity ( SCTY ) was buying a manufacturer of solar modules, the market sent the stock soaring for questionable reasons. The biggest issue with any vertical integration is that the company is now somewhat trapped into a technology instead of pursuing the most economical solution available on the market. Secondarily, the solar module market has never lacked from investments, nor is the manufacturers historically overly profitable. Read the full article at Seeking Alpha. Disclosure: No position mentioned. Please review the disclaimer page for more details. 

Back in February, I did a  webinar  for Covestor and highlighted that renewable energy was my least favorite sector due to the expected reduction in subsidies in Europe. Witin the last couple of weeks, numerous US solar companies have gone bankrupt including the infamous Solyndra that US President Obama visited. The biggest cause for the bankrupties has been the claim that China subsidizes their solar industry to the detriment of US firms. Considering the previous negativity on the sector, the thought crossed my mind that the collapse of competition and continued high prices of oil and gasoline might make the sector worth another look. Read full article at Seeking Alpha.  Disclosure: No positions. Please review the disclaimer page for more details.