: Green: The Color of Money

First Solar posted a surprise quarterly loss on Thursday, but raised its full-year profit outlook as it drives down production costs for its solar panels, while peer SunPower slightly beat Wall Street forecasts.

Electric vehicles will continue to generate hype at auto shows around the world, but today’s limited battery technology will prevent them from crowding dealer lots for years to come.

Asian solar stocks on Thursday echoed a rally by their U.S. peers, with some surging as much as 20 percent on signs that prices for solar energy components are stabilizing.

While electric vehicles will continue to garner more hype at the North American International Auto Show this year, today’s battery technology will keep the so-called EVs a niche product for years to come.

Bringing greater energy efficiency to commercial buildings promises to be big business. The market is estimated to increase to $100 billion by 2017. Companies doing retrofits stand to reap the benefits from buildings going green.

First Solar cut its 2011 sales and earnings forecast for the second time in two months and forecast 2012 profits below Wall Street's view, sending its shares sharply lower.

Lenders typically factor in loan principal, interest, taxes, and insurance when determining how much mortgage a buyer can afford. Not taken into account are energy costs, which can be more costly than insurance and in some cases taxes.

Federal, state, and even local government policies have had a huge impact on the research and development of alternative fuels, but  a clear rival to fossil fuels has yet to emerge in the marketplace. Take our poll on which energy source you think will succeed over the next decade.

To mark our annual November "Green Is Universal" week, we've assembled a "Green Winners & Losers 2011" special report, looking at six  industries whose fortunes either rose or fell this year.

The industry has had a profitable year despite the jump in corn prices , but overcapacity and the end of a generous government subsidy are major concerns.

The crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plants in Japan last March put the brakes on the industry's revival, dimming prospects for the immediate future.

Investors in the solar industry have needed a strong stomach this year, and that’s unlikely to change soon.

In the current economic climate of corporate thrift, the booming market for technologies to use less energy continues to attract more investor capital.

Although sales of some models have missed expectations, electric vehicles, EV, are a greentech success story just by showing up in significant numbers in 2011.

The industry is  at a unique point in history, where  economic growth overseas, high energy costs, demand for commodities  and better recovery technologies have converged to swell revenue.