The surge in new offerings would come on the heels of the highly successful listing of Suntech Power Holdings, whose shares have more than doubled since it successfully raised US$396 million (HK$3.09 billion) in a New York listing last December.

Since then, China's top semiconductor firm, Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp, has also said it will manufacture solar cells as a sideline using recycled silicon from its primary operations.

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The current pipeline of Chinese IPO candidates includes Canadian Solar, based in Suzhou near Shanghai, and Yingli Solar, based in the northern city of Baoding.

Canadian Solar, also known as CSI, has hired an investment bank and could make its first public filing within weeks, with plans to raise at least US$100 million this summer, two sources said.

Yingli is a little further behind, but has already picked an investment bank, one source said. All the companies are cashing in on soaring global demand for energy, which has helped push oil prices to record highs and has made alternative energy sources more economically viable. At the same time, technological improvements have also helped raise the efficiency and lower the costs of solar technology. Many governments are also offering tax and other incentives to promote alternative energy sources. "Alternative energy always looks better when fossil fuel is expensive," said Kurt Berney, a China-based attorney at the law firm of O'Melveny and Myers.

"These businesses are addressing a very real need. There's a chance you could see three to five of these guys coming out [with IPOs] by the end of the year."

In the last few weeks alone, a handful of fast-growing solar cell makers in China have raised about US$250 million in venture capital, attesting to the sector's attraction, according to one source in the investment community.

Based in the city of Wuxi, about a two-hour train ride from Shanghai, Suntech is the company that many of the listing candidates hope to follow.

In its first quarterly earnings report since its listing, the company - whose founder became one of China's richest men based on his holdings - said revenue last year nearly tripled to US$226 million from US$85 million in 2004. REUTERS