Solar Starting To Go Mainstream? -- Absolutely Nothing About the Bakken

This story is now available almost everywhere; I happened to link it at this site:

Making solar affordable still requires large tax breaks and other subsidies from federal and state governments. The main federal subsidy pays for 30 percent of the cost of a residential system. When state and other subsidies are added, as much as 75 percent of the cost can be covered. [Your neighbors will pay for your solar panels.]

Solar energy may finally get its day in the sun.

"We are at the beginning of a turning point," says Andrew Beebe, who runs global sales for Suntech Power, a manufacturer of solar panels.

And, now back to reality.

Shares of First Solar fell off a cliff yesterday, dropping 25 percent -- SeekingAlpha.com.

Several solar companies likely to fail; high on the list: LDK Solar and SunTech Power -- Motley Fool.com.

China almost kills premier US solar company -- Forbes.com. 

Solar + wind = hot air? -- Wall Street Journal.com

And, of course, we all know about Solyndra.

I've always said the math does not work out. There is not enough space in the world for the number of solar panels needed to even make a dent in meeting the world's energy needs. But that doesn't mean one couldn't make money on solar energy. Agile investors got in early, and, I assume, agile investors are already out. Just one day earlier, October 24, 2011, shares of solar companies all "popped," some as much as 13 percent.

Today's jump is probably a bit of a dead-cat bounce as investors try to find a bottom for solar stocks. The real driver in the long term will be what companies report when they announce third-quarter earnings in the next few weeks.

I've been bullish on U.S. solar companies and cautious of Chinese solar companies for some time now, and I still think that's the way to invest in the industry. Chinese manufacturers have very little differentiation from each other, and SunPower should get a boost from feed-in tariffs favoring rooftop installations in Europe, and First Solar will be helped by the growth of utility scale solar. -- Motley Fool.com.