Many companies in solar cell manufacturing saw their shares rise today... but one in particular went on a real roller coaster, closing the day down.

Cowen analyst Robert Stone initiated coverage of Trina Solar (NYSE: TSL), which went public December 19th. He rated the Chinese solar cell manufacturer at "outperform", saying said he expects rapid growth from the company, and manufacturing efficiencies.

Trina "should enjoy cost advantages in labor, as well as for land, buildings, domestically sourced equipment and power," Stone wrote in a client report.

Shares of Trina gained $2.10, or 7.7 percent, to $29.40 on the New York Stock Exchange in late day trading. The stock has climbed 35 percent since its debut.

SunPower was up 2% this afternoon to $44.18 on news it has begun to seek $130 million USD in a new financing (see Cleantech.com's SunPower raising $130M in debt.)

Other publicly-traded companies seemed to rise sympathetically, too. Evergreen Solar added a whopping 54 cents, or 7 percent, to rise to $8.20 on the Nasdaq. Suntech was up $1.71, or 4.7% to $37.91.

One company that was up dramatically early in the day, but sank in late afternoon trading, was recent Chinese solar cell maker IPO Solarfun.

CIBC World Markets analyst Jeff Osborne had initiated coverage of Solarfun today, calling the shares "the cheapest" of the solar companies he covers. He rated the stock a "Sector Outperformer" and set a $17 price target.

Investors were listening. Shares of Solarfun initially rose 79 cents, or 5.6 percent, to $14.79 in midday trading on the Nasdaq, yet by late afternoon were down 3% from what they opened at, down 43 cents.

In his first note on Solarfun to clients, Osborne had noted that Solarfun "shares currently trade at 17x 2007E EPS, a sharp discount to the industry average of 24x. We believe this discount should narrow, especially considering that it is wider than for standalone module manufacturers."

Solarfun shares have risen about 40 percent since the company went public Dec. 20.