Jul. 9--MERRIMACK--If there were any doubts that alternative energy has moved beyond the tree-hugging stage, Merrimack's GT Solar is about to dispel them: It wants to go public.

The company, which makes equipment for the solar panel industry, has filed paperwork with federal regulators detailing plans to sell its stock for the first time on the Nasdaq exchange under the symbol SOLR.

GT Solar would become New Hampshire's 19th publicly traded company and the state's first public alternative energy company.

The company, in the midst of a Securities Exchange Commission-imposed quiet period, declined to comment on the public offering Tuesday because any private information it discloses could potentially jeopardize the deal.

But generally, the extra money a company brings in from going public allows for growth and expansion.

A listing date has not been announced, but stock is expected to go up for sale within the next few weeks. GT Solar plans to offer 30.3 million shares at an estimated price of $15.50 to $17.50 each, according to SEC documents filed Monday.

At the lower price, that would raise about $470 million. GT Solar was founded in 1994 by Kedar Gupta and John Talbott, whose last names make up the "GT" in the company's name. They decided the need for solar energy was taking off across the globe.

Gupta and Talbott's combined investment was $1,000 and the men ran the business out of their basements.

In the last few years, the company has seen explosive growth, thanks to the booming solar industry. In a two-year period from 2006-08, GT Solar saw revenue growth of 128 percent, from about $47 million to more than $244 million, according to SEC documents.

Profits for the last fiscal year topped $36 million.

In March, GT Solar announced its single largest order to date -- $200 million to supply a South Korean company with solar equipment. In 1999, the largest order to date was $4 million.

And late last year, the company broke ground on a construction project to double the size of its Merrimack headquarters, adding 60,000 square feet in several phases over the next two to three years. At the time, GT Solar also announced plans to add up to 100 new jobs, nearly doubling the size of its staff.

GT Solar makes equipment other companies use to manufacture photovoltaic solar panels. The company has done much of its business with China because of the effort to improve the country's environmental situations.

But recently, significant contracts have come from South Korea and the Netherlands.

South of the state border, GT Solar has plenty of regional competition in the fast-growing solar-power market.

For example, Marlboro, Mass.-based Evergreen Solar has sold more than $300 million worth of notes to build a huge factory in Devens, Mass., to build solar panels using a "thin-film" technology. It has announced so many long-term contracts that it claims $1.7 billion worth of back orders. In Bedford, Mass., Spire Corp., which sells equipment to make solar panels, recently formed a joint venture with Taiwan-based Gloria Solar to expand its operation.

GT Solar also filed initial public offering papers last year, but the company never went public.

Staff writer David Brooks contributed to this report.

-----

To see more of The Telegraph, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.nashuatelegraph.com

Copyright (c) 2008, The Telegraph, Nashua, N.H.

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.

ESLR, SPIR,

Story Source: The Telegraph