The solar energy industry has grown rapidly even as fossil fuels remain the dominant source of global energy use. Solar industry companies come from multiple sectors, including utilities, industrial, and energy, and include popular stocks such as SolarEdge Technologies (SEDG) and Sunrun Inc. (RUN). While some large utilities and energy companies have solar and renewable energy divisions, these businesses typically are not included in the industry’s listings because the parent’s primary focus is not solar.

Solar stocks, represented by an exchange-traded fund (ETF)—the Invesco Solar ETF (TAN)—have slightly outperformed the broader market over the past year. TAN has provided a total return of -1.7% over the last 12 months, ahead of the Russell 1000’s total return of -7.1%. These market performance numbers and all statistics in the tables below are as of Aug 6, 2022.

Here are the top three solar stocks with the best value, the fastest growth, and the most momentum.

These are the industrial stocks with the lowest 12-month trailing price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio. Because profits can be returned to shareholders in the form of dividends and buybacks, a low P/E ratio shows that you’re paying less for each dollar of profit generated.

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• Daqo New Energy Corp.: The company announced its financial results for Q2 2022 on Aug 3. Net income attributable to shareholders grew nearly three times year-over-year (YOY).
• Hannon Armstrong Sustainable Infrastructure Capital Inc.: Hannon Armstrong Sustainable Infrastructure Capital is a real estate investment trust (REIT) that invests in sustainable infrastructure. It focuses on investments in real estate used for climate solutions, renewable energy, and related projects. On Aug. 4, Hannon Armstrong announced a quarterly cash dividend of $0.375 per share of common stock. The dividend is payable on Oct. 11 to shareholders as of Aug 8, 2022.
• Canadian Solar Inc.: Canadian Solar is a Canada-based solar product developer that designs, builds, and sells modules for residential, commercial, and industrial customers. The company’s products include solar modules, inverters, and system kits.

These are the top solar stocks as ranked by a growth model that scores companies based on a 50/50 weighting of their most recent quarterly YOY percentage revenue growth and most recent quarterly YOY earnings-per-share (EPS) growth. Both sales and earnings are critical factors in the success of a company. Therefore, ranking companies by only one growth metric makes a ranking susceptible to the accounting anomalies of that quarter (such as changes in tax law or restructuring costs) that may make one figure or the other unrepresentative of the business in general. Companies with quarterly EPS or revenue growth of more than 2,500% were excluded as outliers.

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• Daqo New Energy Corp.: See above for company description. The company announced its financial results for Q2 2022 on Aug 3. Net income attributable to shareholders grew nearly three times year-over-year (YOY).
• Enphase Energy Inc.: Enphase Energy is a global energy technology company that brings solar, batteries, and software together in one complete package. It supplies microinverter-based, solar-plus-storage systems. The company reported Q2 2022 results on July 26. the company reported a record quarterly revenue of $530.2 million. 
• Sunnova Energy International Inc.: Sunnova Energy International, Inc. operates as a residential energy service provider. It offers solar energy systems, electric vehicle chargers, and home solar protection. On July 27, Sunnova reported earnings for Q2 FY 2022. The company reported negative earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. As a result, its percent change cannot be calculated and no number is included in the table above. Sunnova saw revenue increase to $147 million compared to $80.5 million in the same quarter a year ago.

These are the solar stocks that had the highest total return over the last 12 months.

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• Enphase Energy Inc.: See above for company description.
• Array Technologies Inc.: Array Technologies manufactures ground-mounting systems used in solar energy projects. The company sells its products to engineering, procurement, and construction firms that build solar energy projects and to large solar developers, independent power producers, and utilities, master supply agreements, or multi-year procurement contracts.
• Maxeon Solar Technologies Ltd.: Maxeon Solar Technologies manufacturers and markets premium solar power technology. Its products include Maxeon Line of IBC solar cells and panels, and the Performance Line of shingled solar cells and panels. 

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