The solar PV industry has taken a beating since the beginning of the year, when investors finally got the message that manufacturing capacity was outstripping demand. Reductions to government incentives in Germany and Italy were only partially replaced by incentives in the US and China, and China’s large, low-cost panel makers forced prices down by more than 40%.

For all the action in solar there are only five companies that play in the sector that also have market caps above $1 billion. These are Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMAT), First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR), MEMC Electronic Materials Inc. (NYSE: WFR), GT Advanced Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: GTAT), and SunPower Corp. (NASDAQ: SPWRA).

24/7 Wall St. has taken a closer look into our solar screens.  If a value stock by the screens was purely China, we eliminated it because of the accounting woes and concerns facing that entire class of companies.  We took a look at the share price versus its 52-week range and versus Thomson Reuters consensus analyst price targets, as well as price/book ratios, forward P/E ratios, and other considerations.

There are always caveats in value screens, but that is particularly the case in the world of solar investing.  It used to be that solar was just a leveraged move on major oil price directional changes.  That is now a different situation entirely.

Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMAT) makes the equipment that solar PV makers use to manufacture cells and panels. The demand for the company’s equipment has risen as Chinese solar makers expand. How long the expansion continues will dictate how Applied fares. Shares recently closed at $10.73 and its market cap is $14.1 billion. The stock’s 52-week trading range is $10.30-$16.71. The current value is trading at a price-to-book ratio of about 1.65 to 1. Its forward price earnings multiple is 10.73. The company currently pays a dividend yield of 2.98% to investors. Thomson Reuters has a consensus price target of $13.88, implying roughly 29% upside to the most recent price.

First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR) is the largest of the solar PV makers by market cap, roughly 10x larger than any of Chinese competitors and more than 6x larger than its nearest US rival. The company’s thin-film panels are the industry’s low cost leaders, but falling prices for crystalline solar panels are pressing in, and the gap is now about $0.35/watt in First Solar’s favor. Shares recently closed at $84.96 and its market cap is $7.3 billion. The stock’s 52-week trading range is $85.96-$175.45. The current value is trading at a price-to-book ratio of about 1.99 to 1. Its forward price earnings multiple is 14.47. The company currently pays no dividend to investors. Thomson Reuters has a consensus price target of $139.53, implying roughly 64% upside to the most recent price.