Short interest among solar energy and alternative energy stocks was very interesting for the March 13 settlement date. That is because most of the stocks in this area have risen of late. 24/7 Wall St. tracked the major companies here, and it turns out that short sellers were feeling pain on top of more than just the price direction. We saw a rise in many of the nominal short interest readings. If there was not a rise nominally, the days to cover reading was generally higher.

Included in this short interest review was the percentage gain in the nominal short interest, a review of the days to cover, how the alternative energy stocks have done compared to two weeks ago, and finally a 52-week trading range.

The move to solar yieldco entities may be helping here, but it seems as though alternative energy stocks finally may be dropping away from the trends seen in oil prices. Is it fair to wonder if a short squeeze could make for additional moves ahead in this sector?

First Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR) saw its short interest tick down by less than 5% to 8.88 shares from 9.28 million shares. While this is a drop, the prior move had been a serious jump from 8.05 million shares. What is different this time is that the days to cover jumped to 2.59 from 1.43. First Solar’s 52-week range is $39.18 to $74.20, and it closed at $62.51 on Tuesday, up from the $59.86 reading the last time we covered its short interest.

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SunEdison Inc. (NYSE: SUNE) did not change much on the surface, as the short interest fell 1.6% to 82.09 million shares as of the March 13 settlement date. The prior short interest change was actually an increase of 6.3%, and this is still almost 31% of the float being short. Where the short interest looks higher now is in the days to cover, rising to roughly nine from six just two weeks ago. SunEdison saw its shares close at $24.85 on Tuesday, up over 12% from two weeks ago. SunEdison’s 52-week range is $13.09 to $24.99.

SunPower Corp. (NASDAQ: SPWR) saw its short interest dive much more than 3% stock drop seen in the two weeks. Its short interest fell by a sharp 23.7% down to 7.27 million shares from the prior reading of 9.54 million shares. While the nominal short interest was sharply lower, the days to cover rose to 3.36 from 2.34. SunPower’s close of $33.05 on Tuesday compares to $32.29 at the last short interest review. The stock’s 52-week range is $22.75 to $42.07.

SolarCity Corp. (NASDAQ: SCTY) saw its short interest fall by 1% to 19.12 million shares as of the March 13 settlement date. This was after rising 7.3% to 19.32 million shares at the last reading — be advised that this is still well over 30% of the company’s total float. Days to cover rose to 8.01 from 5.24 in the most recent period. SolarCity shares closed at $51.50, against a 52-week range of $45.79 to $79.40. The stock was trading at $49.72 when we last covered the short interest.

Canadian Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: CSIQ) saw another gain in the short interest, by 6% to 5.006 million shares as of the March 13 settlement date. This follows a 12.6% gain in the number of shares short in the prior report. Interestingly, the days to cover fell to 1.28 from 2.16. What is also interesting here is that the short sellers are feeling pain. After closing at $36.03 on Tuesday, the stock is up from $31.65 just two weeks ago — higher short interest and higher share prices means short sellers could start getting desperate. Canadian Solar’s 52-week range is $18.68 to $41.12.

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FuelCell Energy Inc. (NASDAQ: FCEL) had only another small gain of around 1% in the short interest. That grew to 21.899 million shares short as of March 13 from 31.595 million two weeks earlier. About 13% of the company’s stock is short, but the days to cover dropped to 6.05 from 13.5 two weeks ago. The stock closed at $1.29 on Tuesday, versus $1.28 two weeks ago, against a 52-week range of $1.05 to $2.94.

Plug Power Inc. (NASDAQ: PLUG) saw short interest rise by just over 1% to 32.01 million shares as of the March 13 settlement date. This is roughly the same percentage gain as seen at the prior report, but the days to cover jumped up to 9.55 from 6.33. Plug Power shares closed at $2.67 on Tuesday, and that is actually lower than the $2.86 share price two weeks ago. The 52-week trading range is $2.42 to $8.48.

Clean Energy Fuels Corp. (NASDAQ: CLNE) saw a rise of almost 7% in the short interest to 16.55 million shares. This was versus 15.49 million shares short two weeks ago, but that was up 4% in the prior period. This is now close to one-fourth of the float being short, and the days to cover rose to 8.99 from 5.83. Shares closed at $5.34 on Tuesday, up from $5.18 two weeks earlier. It has a 52-week range of $3.99 to $11.79.

Pacific Ethanol Inc. (NASDAQ: PEIX) saw its short interest scream higher by 26.6% to 4.86 million shares as of the March 13 settlement date, after having risen by 5.1% to 3.84 million shares at the end of February. What is interesting is that the days to cover fell by half to 2.22 from 4.44, despite the higher nominal short interest. The stock price was up close to 3.5% at $10.78 as of Tuesday’s close, when you compare the share price to the $10.40 two weeks earlier. Pacific Ethanol’s 52-week range is $7.51 to $23.97.

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