Ahead of second-quarter earnings season, what sorts of alternative energy stocks would you recommend?

Just a couple weeks back I initiated coverage on ReneSola, Ltd. (SOL) as a Buy. The China-based company, incorporated in March 2006, is engaged in the manufacture and sale of solar wafers and related products. In April 2006, the company discontinued the sale of solar modules and concentrated on the production and sale of solar wafers.

Are you positive on the company mostly because you see strength in the solar energy industry?

Through its short history, ReneSola regularly adapted to changing market dynamics. The company is aggressively ramping up its polysilicon and solar wafer production capacities.

Going forward, increased captive generation of polysilicon will improve its cost structure and enable wafer capacity expansions. Globally, rising solar wafer sales, along with escalating crude and long-term supply agreements, should collectively generate significant earnings growth.

That said, SOL is a play on growth in the solar industry. ReneSola's customers include global manufacturers of solar cells and modules, such as JA Solar (JASO), Motech Industries, Solarfun Power (SOLF), Suntech Power (STP) and Topco Technologies.

Can you tell us about another solar panel company that you have covered a longer time?

Well, First Solar (FSLR) was upgraded to a Buy recommendation back in mid-April. And as I said in my latest research report, FSLR's recent bullishness is buoyed due to the steep rise in the price of oil.

Earlier, after climbing as high as $280.91 a share in December 2007, FSLR plummeted to a low of $165.60 in February 2008. Subsequent to that, FSLR recovered greatly and is currently trading near its yearly high.

Sounds like these shares might be mighty risky.

FSLR's reliance on low cost thin-film cells helped the company avert a silicon shortage which ravaged the bottom lines of other solar peers.