HONG KONG: China Solar Power (Holdings) Ltd (CSP), a small maker of thin-film solar cells that is operating at full capacity, plans to go public next year to raise money for its expansion plans.

The company, controlled by Shanghai-based private equity firm Tano China Capital Management Inc, also aims to bring down the cost of solar power modules to make them more competitive with conventional forms of electricity generation.

"Orders for this year and next are filled, and that's why we need to grow," Winston Lee, managing director for CSP's corporate development, said in an interview.

CSP expects its output this year to reach 25 megawatts, and to more than double in 2010. Competing mainland solar cell makers include Suntech Power Holdings Co, the world's largest solar module maker, and Trina Solar Ltd, both of which are listed in New York.

"Any mass producer of high-quality modules is primed for listing, and if by next year the market conditions are ripe for an IPO (initial public offering), then we will push ahead with it," Lee said.

Once-hot solar energy stocks have cooled amid the broader market sell-off, with shares in Suntech and Trina both down more than 75 percent over the past year.

Lee said the company is considering Hong Kong and the NASDAQ as potential listing venues. CSP, which entered the thin-film solar market last year, expects revenue to hit $140 million in 2010, up from about $20 million expected this year, Lee said.

Reuters

(HK Edition 02/12/2009 page16)