VentureBeat

Coming in as the largest solar energy IPO since the debut of First Solar (FSLR) on the stock market, New Hampshire-based GT Solar (SOLR) priced its 30.3 million shares at $16.50 each this morning.

GT Solar makes equipment that’s used to manufacture silicon wafers for use in photovoltaic solar cells, as well the cells themselves. Like Applied Materials (AMAT), the company focuses on selling its fabrication technology to others rather than making cells itself.

The market has reacted far less enthusiastically to such companies than to the firms like SunPower, which make and sell their own cells and often have P/E ratios over 100. However, GT Solar still pulled in a hefty $500 million with the offering. Most of the proceeds will go to the company’s investors.

In mid-afternoon trading, the stock had fallen significantly, to $14.64 at the time of writing — more than 11 percent below the starting price. The drop is reflective of the market itself, which has continued to struggle lately. All the major exchanges have also lost ground today.

GT Solar’s pre-IPO backers included majority holder GFI Energy Ventures, RBC Capital, Wells Fargo and Angeleno Group, a Los Angeles-area private equity firm that has been active in cleantech.