First Solar, SolarCity, SunPower and Google

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Chicago, IL – December 12, 2014 – Zacks.com Announces Stock List Featured on Analyst Blog. Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events affecting stocks and financial markets every day. Stocks recently featured on the blog include First Solar Inc. (Report without FSLR), Solar City company (SCTY-free report), SunPower company. (Report free from SPWR) i Google Inc. (GOOGL free report).

Today, Zacks is promoting a “Buy” rating for the stock. Get the #1 magazine of the day for free.

Here are the highlights from Thursday’s Analyst blog:

The first Solar company focusing on the residential market

Tempe, based in Arizona First Solar Inc. (No FSLR Report) has partnered with Clean Energy Collective (“CEC”) to develop and promote community solar projects to residential and corporate customers. First Solar also invested in CEC by purchasing shares in the company.

Colorado-based CEC is one of the leading developers of community solar solutions. First Solar, in turn, designs, manufactures and sells solar power modules. Its customer base primarily consists of project developers, system integrators and renewable energy project operators in the US and Europe, with a focus on Germany.

Through this partnership, both First Solar and CEC are pursuing opportunities in the local U.S. solar market to provide a reasonable and easy alternative to rooftop power generation.

Community Solar: Now everyone can “go solar”

Community solar, an alternative to rooftop photovoltaics, uses ground-mounted installations to deliver clean energy directly to the power grid. This makes solar energy conveniently available to those who do not have suitable roofs to install solar panels or live in multi-family buildings. In this way, community solar meets the needs of markets that are not reached by rooftop solar panels.

This isn’t the first time First Solar has tried to enter the residential solar market. In 2008, the company acquired a minority stake in SolarCity Corp. (SCTY free report) as part of a $25 million capital investment to gain a foothold in the residential roofing market. However, First Solar did not see much interest in the transaction and ultimately sold its shares in 2010.
The latest cooperation is part of First Solar’s distributed generation strategy, which aims to strengthen the company’s position in the photovoltaic markets for households.

Distributed generation is driving the expansion of the solar energy market and exploiting opportunities that exist beyond the boundaries of the traditional residential and commercial sectors.

Dynamically growing solar energy market in residential buildings

The U.S. residential solar market is a hot story right now. In 2013, it even overtook the commercial and public utility segments and has already attracted many companies dealing in conventional energy, producing energy mainly from coal and natural gas. According to the Solar Energy Industries Association (“SEIA”), 1,354 megawatts of solar photovoltaic (“PV”) installations were installed in the U.S. in the third quarter, up 41% year-over-year and 8% sequentially. Moreover, in the third quarter of 2014, the capacity of photovoltaic installations in residential buildings exceeded 300 megawatts.

Therefore, First Solar’s desire to exploit this market is understandable. The SEIA report also shows that in 2014, photovoltaic installations will reach a record capacity of 6.5 gigawatts, which means an increase of 36% year-on-year.

Colleagues from the industry

Similarly, other solar companies such as SunPower Corp. (report without SPWR), they are also trying to get a piece of the cake. In April 2014, SunPower entered into cooperation with Google Inc. (GOOGL free report) to create a $250 million fund and make it easier to install solar panels on American homes. The purpose of this pact is essentially to finance solar installations in residential buildings, which SunPower will then rent to homeowners.

Zacks Rank

First Solar is currently sporting a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

Today, Zacks is promoting a “Buy” stock rating. Get the #1 magazine of the day for free.

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