Acting on panic never helps investors, but it's still a good idea to question why you're really buying individual investments.

Consider solar products maker Energy Conversion Devices (Nasdaq: ENER). Though the solar sector continues to show resilience, you'll find a few of the 1,292 Motley Fool CAPS members who weighed in on the company offering reasons to be bearish.

Here at The Motley Fool, we like to consider both the good and bad sides of an investment, so in this article, I'm highlighting three of the main bearish arguments on Energy Conversion Devices today. Be sure to read the bullish side as well, and then weigh in with your own comments below or rate Energy Conversion Devices in CAPS.                                             

1. Booking losses
While Chinese producers JA Solar (Nasdaq: JASO) and LDK Solar (NYSE: LDK) rode demand trends to profits in their most recent quarters, Energy Conversion Devices widened its fiscal-third-quarter loss on a sizable writedown. The company has joined others, like the fallen Evergreen Solar (Nasdaq: ESLR), in posting a trend of red ink in recent quarters, which has some investors placing it in a different league than its more profitable peers.

2. Low-cost competition
Although Energy Conversion Devices has plans to eventually bring its per-watt cost below $1, some investors are concerned with lower-cost competition in the meantime. Investors see a threat from Chinese producers as well as thin-film competitor First Solar (Nasdaq: FSLR), which already has a per-watt cost structure below a buck.               

3. Shrinking subsidies
Energy Conversion Devices is similar to peers Trina Solar (NYSE: TSL), First Solar, and Yingli Green Energy (NYSE: YGE) in that it generates a significant percentage of its revenues from European countries where solar projects are heavily subsidized. Germany recently slightly eased its solar subsidy, and Italy is looking to chop its feed-in tariffs by as much as 30% next year for certain photovoltaic installations. The specter of more subsidy easing has some investors concerned about the effects on Energy Conversion's business.

To see details of what CAPS members are saying now about Energy Conversion Devices, just click on over to Motley Fool CAPS and have a look. Or add your own thoughts directly to this story in the comments box below.