In this effort, we have focused on the former peaks from the 2007 to 2008 glory days, if applicable. The run higher seems like a bubble, but you will see that the bubble of today is nothing compared to the bubble of 2007 and 2008, when energy and alternative energy were flying high.

24/7 Wall St. evaluated the likes of First Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR), SunPower Corp. (NASDAQ: SPWR), MEMC Electronic Materials Inc. (NYSE: WFR), GT Advanced Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: GTAT) and SolarCity Corp. (NASDAQ: SCTY) in the stock coverage. We also wanted to highlight exchange traded fund (ETF) performance and historical data on the Guggenheim Solar (NYSEMKT: TAN) and PowerShares WilderHill Clean Energy (NYSEMKT: PBW).

First Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR) is the de facto solar leader, and its shares have done what seemed nearly impossible just a few months ago. This stock went from less than $30 from late in 2006 after its initial public offering (IPO) to more than $300 in mid-2008 at the peak of the energy craze. Then came the “heads I win, tails you lose” trading, in which First Solar lost literally half of its value from July 2008 to December 2008. By June 0f 2012, First Solar shares were at a low even under $12, and the stock closed out 2012 at $30.86. Now we have shares up around $56, implying year-to-date gains of 81% and gains from last June’s lows of nearly 400%.

SunPower Corp. (NASDAQ: SPWR) remains a miracle recovery, but we question why on earth Total S.A. (NYSE: TOT) has not acquired the rest of the company when the stock was less than $5. It is the largest holder by far, and it could have taken this outfit over on the cheap. This stock trades around $21.60, after a drop of more than 4% on Tuesday, but shares hit a high of $23.76. SunPower shares peaked at more than $100 in 2007 and again in 2008.

MEMC Electronic Materials Inc. (NYSE: WFR) has been the less-followed winner for its solar materials making, but its rise has been massive as well. After hitting a low of $1.44 in the past year, the stock closed out 2012 at $3.21. With shares around $6.70 now, this is a gain of close to 400% from the lows, and a gain of more than 100% so far in 2013. Keep in mind that MEMC peaked at $96 in late 2007, and this was a $17 stock by the end of 2008.

GT Advanced Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: GTAT) shares are back up to $4.60, but we would caution that this one came public as one of the last solar players out there in late 2008. It makes equipment for solar panel makers and providers, and it does not fit the same historic pattern as it missed much of the 2007 and 2008 silliness. This stock is up 75% from its low of $2.61 from March 4, 2013. GT is also up just over 50% from its closing price of $3.03 in 2012.

If you want to see just how fast a good thing can come to a crashing end … SolarCity Corp. (NASDAQ: SCTY) is supposed to be the new kid on the block, and its shares hit a new all-time high of $52.77 just on Monday. After a double-digit drop, this one is back to $45. Do not feel too bad for those shareholders because, even after this last sudden drop, we have this 2012 IPO up a whopping 275% or so year-to-date from the $11.93 close for 2012.

The Guggenheim Solar (NYSEMKT: TAN) ETF is solar-focused and is still up 1.9% at $26.04 so far on Tuesday, but that is down from a high of $27.87 earlier in the day and up from a 52-week low of $12.60. Even after pulling back from the highs, this ETF is up a whopping 64% year-to-date from the closing price of $15.64 at the end of 2012. Trading volume has been elevated, and even exponentially higher of late. A reverse split has clouded the comparisons back to 2008 when this ETF was created.

There is also the PowerShares WilderHill Clean Energy (NYSEMKT: PBW) ETF, which has a more diversified angle of alternative energy, cleaner energy and conservation, rather than just being solar. This one just hit a new high of $5.87 for the year and shares are up less than 1% at $5.67 as of last look. Even after the pullback, this is up almost 38% year-to-date from the $4.08 close at the end of 2012. Keep in mind that this ETF was above $28 at the peak back to late 2007 and in 2008, but by the end of 2008 it back to less than $10 per share.

If this sounds as though we have the pom-poms out cheering on the solar rally, we actually want investors to consider the risks more than just chasing the gainers. Our first point to make is that when you see articles of this magnitude cheering a great recovery, then perhaps the easy money has already been made. If you want proof of how volatile and wild price moves are expected, an at the money straddle or spread using the June-2013 $55 strike prices in puts and calls would cost you about $8.25 if you tally up both prices. That implies that the stock would have to rise to above $63 or fall to under $47 before the bets pay off.

The solar sector moves have been impressive. Make that more than impressive. The problem is that we are in a different valuation world now compared to the bubbles of the past. The partial austerity-driven, tax-credit-expiration world we live in now and the tariffs (trade wars) have changed the landscape to the point that it seems almost incomprehensible that the old bubble days of 2007 and 2008 could return. Some of these companies will continue to go on to do great things in the years ahead. Other solar players may fade into the history books, even after we have seen many bankruptcies in this sector.

Some longer term questions remain. Will solar companies get to form master limited partnerships? Will they become utilities? Is a market cap of almost $5 billion for First Solar crazy, or is it cheap compared to 2007 and 2008? Is Solar City’s $3.5 billion market cap valuing it as the utility of the future? Is much of the volume being driven by short covering? Or is the volume being driven by ETFs influencing the sector?

So far this year, daily consumption of motor fuel has ranged between 8.32 million barrels a day and 8.53 million barrels a day, indicating that demand for ethanol should be about 800,000 to 820,000 barrels a day, well within the available plant capacity. Actual U.S. production in February of this year totaled 809,000 barrels a day, according to the latest figures available from the EIA. The EIA estimates that ethanol production will average about 860,000 barrels a day in 2013, with production rising from 840,000 barrels a day in the first half of the year to around 900,000 barrels a day in the second half.

Ethanol is expected to consume nearly 5 billion bushels of corn this year, out of a total crop now projected to come in at around 12.3 billion bushels. As before, about 40% of the U.S. corn crop now goes into ethanol production. The production projection fell because of late planting in some areas due to cool, wet weather.

The two largest publicly traded ethanol producers in the country, Archer Daniels Midland Co. (NYSE: ADM) and Valero Energy Corp. (NYSE: VLO), either experienced reduced operating profit (ADM) or a net loss (Valero) on ethanol production in 2012. High corn prices, due mainly to last year’s drought, combined with higher ethanol inventories contributed the lower or negative margins.

The inventory problems appear to be behind the producers now, and corn prices, though higher than last year at the same time, remain relatively low at around $6.35 a bushel.

In a nutshell, U.S. ethanol capacity should be able adequately to supply demand from U.S. drivers, who continue to drive less than they did a year ago. Ethanol prices should remain reasonable as well, barring more bad news about crop yields or renewable energy credits.

Another pure-play solar energy installer, SolarCity Corp. (NASDAQ: SCTY) has also posted a new 52-week high this morning. Like Real Goods, SolarCity put up quarterly results that included a larger net loss than in the same quarter a year ago. SolarCity managed to snag more revenue than it did a year ago, but that mark eluded Real Goods, which saw an 8% drop in year-over-year revenues.

Real Goods has signed a deal with homebuilder Lennar Corp. (NYSE: LEN) to install solar PV at some of the homebuilder’s new communities in California, with a potential to expand to other areas of the country.

Both Real Goods and SolarCity operate exclusively in the U.S., so neither is taking advantage of the expanding solar market in Japan. SolarCity and Real Goods both offer solar PV systems that have no upfront cost for home and business owners willing to sign a 20-year power purchase agreement.

Other than the fact that Real Goods has remained in the background since is IPO 10 years ago this month, there’s really not an awful lot of news or data to warrant such a steep, quick jump in the share price. But installation of solar energy is where the profits will be for the near term. SunPower Corp. (NASDAQ: SPWR), First Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR), and MEMC Electronic Materials Inc. (NYSE: WFR) all have installation operations as well, so there is stiff competition from large firms to say nothing of local installers. But it’s where the money is right now, and with stabilizing prices for solar modules, margins and profits could be about to get better.

Like other Chinese solar makers, JA Solar appears to have turned a corner as far as gross margin is concerned. The company reported a positive gross margin of 6% in the first quarter, up from a negative 4.6% in the fourth quarter and a positive 2.1% in the first quarter of last year. The company’s net loss fell sequentially by 65%.

For the current quarter, JA Solar expects to ship a total of 410 to 430 megawatts, identical with its estimate for the first quarter, when it shipped nearly 443 megawatts of modules and cells. Total shipments for the full year were forecast at 1,700 to 1,900 megawatts, unchanged from the end of the fourth quarter of 2012.

The company’s CEO said:

Shipments exceeded the high end of guidance in the first quarter thanks to solid sales across our key markets, particularly in regions with higher ASPs, resulting in improved gross margins and a significant reduction in net loss. We performed especially well in Japan, a high-ASP market, which accounted for a record 38% of our module shipments in the quarter, while module sales to China declined from last quarter due to seasonality and our shift in focus to markets with more attractive margins.

The company repaid $119 million in convertible debt that came due last week. In March, JA Solar and ReneSolar Ltd. (NYSE: SOL) received new loans from the China Development Bank. ReneSolar reported a quarterly net loss last week.

Shares of JA Solar are up nearly 14% in premarket trading this morning, at $6.38, which would be a new 52-week high if it holds. The current 52-week range is $2.91 to $6.14. Thomson Reuters had a consensus analyst price target of around $5.05 before today’s results were announced.

Tesla plans to use part of the proceeds to accelerate repayment of a $452.4 million loan from the federal government. The loan, made under the Department of Energy’s Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing program, was made in 2009 and had an original repayment period of 10 years. Tesla had said earlier that it would pay off the loan in five years.

Tesla’s chairman and CEO Elon Musk will purchase up to 1.08 million shares of the new offering. Musk is also the chairman of SolarCity Corp. (NASDAQ: SCTY).

Opinion appears to be pretty evenly divided between those who believe that Tesla will continue to grow and those who believe that the company is really just another disaster waiting to happen. The company plans to reach production of 500 Model S sedans a week this year, a number that would barely dent the 15.5 million new cars expected to be sold in the United States this year. Naysayers see that as a precursor of doom. True believers expect Tesla to introduce an all-electric car that sells for half the price of the Model S within a few years, which would allow the company to cast a wider net for customers.

In the premarket this morning, Tesla’s shares are up about 2.5%, at $94.54 in a 52-week range of $25.52 to $97.12.

The loss per American depositary share (ADS) totaled $0.45. One ADS equals two ordinary shares.

In its outlook for the second quarter, ReneSola said it expects shipments of solar wafers and modules to total 700 to 720 megawatts, up from shipments of 662 megawatts in the first quarter. Revenues are forecast in the range of $310 million to $330 million and gross margin is expected to be 3% to 5%. For the full year, shipments are expected to total 2,700 to 2,900 megawatts. The consensus estimates call for second-quarter revenues of $296.5 million and full-year revenues of $1.05 billion. EPS loss estimates are $0.27 for the second quarter and $1.15 for the full year.

The company’s CEO said:

Over the past year, we have worked hard to transform our company into a leading global solar brand and technology leader. … Although we are seeing the solar market stabilize, a persistent demand-supply imbalance, coupled with competitive pricing, continues to impact our business and the overall industry.

Gross margins in the first quarter were negative 2%, compared with a negative margin of 3.8% in the first quarter of 2012. The good news is that double-digit negative gross margins appear to be well behind the firm, with the outlook for a positive margin in the current quarter.

ReneSola also said it plans to offer residential solar PV solutions soon, as well as continue R&D on downstream products like inverters and small-scale storage systems. The company appears to understand that it needs to capture more of the revenue from the downstream side of the solar business, and it is doing something about it. What remains to be seen is whether ReneSola waited too long to make this move.

ReneSola’s shares are down 6.8% in premarket trading this morning, at $2.04, in a 52-week range of $1.08 to $2.85. Thomson Reuters had a consensus analyst price target of around $2.00 before today’s results were announced.

SunPower earned $0.06 a share in the first quarter on revenues of $635 million. For the second quarter ending in June, the company now forecasts adjusted EPS between $0.05 and $0.15 on revenues of $550 million to $600 million. The consensus estimates had called for a net loss of $0.02 per share on revenues of $513.31 million.

For the full-year, SunPower now estimates adjusted EPS in the range of $0.60 to $0.80 on revenues of $2.5 to $2.6 billion. These estimates are pretty much inline with the current consensus for EPS of $0.64 on revenues of $2.55 billion.

The company said it would provide detail on its guidance in a conference call later this morning. But the construction of its Antelope Valley Ranch project and its success at lease financing are likely to be the reasons for the company’s optimism for the current year.

Investors like what they have read so far. Shares are about 7.3% in premarket trading this morning, at $20.41, which would be a new 52-week high if it holds. The current 52-week range is $3.71 to $19.50.

While we are saying that the Tesla rally is over, there has to be an admission that timing and illogical behavior can often prevail over common sense even if that may just be temporary. We have seen a serious concern on the chart, the short sellers have likely been squeezed out, and a key analyst jettisoned the stock $20 ago. What you should not consider a peak is the move toward electric, hybrid, and better fuel-efficient vehicles.

The stock had a huge gap-up at $94.39 this morning after earnings, with a very early morning peak of $97.12. A huge volume sell-off down to $85 and with shares in the red is representative of what cocktail market technicians would call a “gap and crap” pattern.

When this happens at a record share price and on monstrous trading volume (8+ times volume is that), you are often seeing a top. Keep in mind that Tesla was under $60 just on May 8, then on May 9 you had close to a $14 rally, followed by another $7 rally, followed by another $11 rally. Another $9 higher just proved to be the breaking point.

Another issue is Tesla’s short interest. This has been in decline in the last three twice-monthly reports, but the NASDAQ short interest tables shows that Tesla still had 27.5 million shares short as of the April 30 settlement date and Tesla’s stock was around $50 in the days leading up to the end of April.

Goldman Sachs recently downgraded Tesla to Neutral from Buy after the valuation reached a highly elevated level. That was on May 9 on the day that Tesla was gapping up to $70. At $85 Tesla’s market cap is still about $9.7 billion, while Thomson Reuters has estimates on sales of $1.93 billion in 2013 and $2.54 billion for 2014.

There is a concern in options trading. Call options trading volume is still outpacing put option volume. That may be one caveat out there, unless new buyers are selling contracts to hedge their long or short positions.

We do not have other electric car players to value Tesla against. Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) is supposed to be the safest car company in America. Ford’s market cap is $56 billion and sales projections from Thomson Reuters are $136 billion in 2013 and almost $143 billion in 2014. General Motors Company (NYSE: GM) has a market value of over $43 billion and Thomson Reuters has sales estimates of $155 billion for 2013 and $165 billion for 2014.

For trades at about 0.4-times a 2013-14 blended sales, versus about 0.27-times 2013-14 blended sales for GM. Tesla trades at about 5-times 2013 sales and about 4-times 2014 sales. The forward P/E ratios are too out of proportion to even bother discussing, but the forward multiples for 2014 earnings are roughly 78 for Tesla, 8.5 for Ford, and about 7.25 for GM.

Have you seen the all-time high in Tesla shares? Very possibly, no. Tesla is positioning itself to be the de facto electric car leader in America (and maybe beyond) and ultimately that can drive much much higher raw dollars in valuation. We have just seen too many valuations get stretched to the point that they did not make sense and we have to wonder what year in the future that investors are buying Tesla shares up for up until today.

There is a major bull market underpinning the speculative favorites and that supports Tesla. Still, if Goldman Sachs couldn’t stomach the valuation almost $20 lower and the blow off top that we saw today are of any use, Tesla still has much more risk than reward for investors who do not like the moral hazards of chasing stock prices endlessly higher each day.

Tesla’s CEO, Elon Musk, is also the chairman of SolarCity Corp. (NASDAQ: SCTY), which last night reported earnings for the second time since going public late last year. Like Tesla, since the beginning of this year the stock chart has that fabulous “hockey-stick” outline. SolarCity’s shares also rose more than 60% since Tesla announced earnings last week, and posted a post-IPO high of $39.00 just yesterday. SolarCity’s market value is around $2.6 billion and shares trade at a forward multiple that approaches infinity because the company hasn’t yet posted a profit.

SolarCity is expected to continue posting net losses through 2014. As we noted in our coverage of the company’s earnings last night, that will likely keep short interest in SolarCity’s stock fairly high. It’s around 15% as of April 30th.

One effort that may bring a substantial benefit to SolarCity is legislation currently being discussed in a Congressional committee that would allow renewable energy companies to operate as master limited partnerships (MLPs). The legislation removes the restriction currently written into the law that limits MLPs to depletable resources.

SolarCity has received private funding to purchase and install solar PV systems at no cost to the home or business owner. The company makes money by signing a long-term power purchase agreement with the owner. Being able to raise capital on the basis of future guaranteed revenue, in much the same way that a pipeline MLP now operates, could make a vital difference to the survival of SolarCity and other companies with installation operations, including First Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR), SunPower Corp. (NASDAQ: SPWR), and MEMC Electronic Materials Inc. (NYSE: WFR).

If MLPs are eventually allowed for renewable energy projects, an estimated $6 billion in new capital could become available for companies like SolarCity. That might make a big difference in the length of time it takes for the company to become profitable.

European Union leaders will call for a study of energy prices and costs facing households and energy-intensive industries, according to draft conclusions of their May 22 summit.

“The impact of high energy prices and costs must be addressed,” according to the draft, dated May 13 and obtained by Bloomberg News. The draft says the European Commission will present their analysis of energy-price “composition and drivers” before the end of 2013 for talks in February 2014.

The 27-nation bloc’s leaders also will call for EU and national measures to boost financing opportunities throughout the economy, according to the draft. It specifies trying to make more use of the European Investment Bank, in particular for energy and resource-efficiency projects.