Canadian Solar Remains Main Sponsor of Italian Basketball Team Virtus Pallecanestro Bologna

For the third consecutive year, Canadian Solar backs the talented Canadian Solar Virtus Bologna

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Sep 20, 2011, 05:00 ET

MILAN, Sept. 20, 2011 /PRNewswire-Asia-FirstCall/ -- Canadian Solar (NASDAQ: CSIQ), one of the world's largest solar companies, has renewed its sponsorship agreement for the third year in a row with Virtus Pallacanestro Bologna, the Italian Lega A basketball team named Canadian Solar Virtus Bologna.

Under the new agreement with Virtus, Canadian Solar reconfirmed their main sponsor status of one of the most popular and successful basketball teams in Italy for the coming 2011-12 season. In addition to the exclusive naming rights of the team, the Canadian Solar logo will also be prominent on the team's uniforms. Canadian Solar will also receive dedicated marketing, hospitality and promotional privileges within the stadium during the entire 2011-2012 season.

"The decision to continue as main sponsor underlines Canadian Solar's commitment to the Italian market and to partnership that embody Canadian Solar's core values and principles. Like Canadian Solar, Virtus is determined to achieve the best results, to bring passion to each game, and has a strong history of success. We are a proud main sponsor and we look forward to increasing awareness of the Canadian Solar brand and reaching an ever growing audience in support of our loyal customer base in Italy," said Dr. Shawn Qu, Chairman and CEO of Canadian Solar.

"It is with great satisfaction that we announce the continuation of our partnership with Canadian Solar", confirmed Claudio Sabatini, President of Virtus Pallecanestro Bologna. "For the third year running, Virtus is aligned with a world-renowned company that demonstrates long-term commitment and gives us great optimism for the 2011/2012 season.

About Canadian Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: CSIQ)

Canadian Solar Inc. is one of the world's largest solar companies. As a leading vertically integrated provider of ingots, wafers, solar cells, solar modules and other solar applications, Canadian Solar designs, manufactures and delivers solar products and solar system solutions for on-grid and off-grid use to customers worldwide. With operations in North America, Europe and Asia, Canadian Solar provides premium quality, cost-effective and environmentally-friendly solar solutions to support global, sustainable development. For more information, visit www.canadiansolar.com.

Safe Harbor/Forward-Looking Statements:

Certain statements in this press release are forward-looking statements that involve a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially. These statements are made under the "Safe Harbor" provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by such terms as "believes," "expects," "anticipates," "intends," "estimates," the negative of these terms, or other comparable terminology. Factors that could cause actual results to differ include the risks regarding the previously disclosed SEC investigation, as well as general business and economic conditions and the state of the solar industry; governmental support for the deployment of solar power; future available supplies of high-purity silicon; demand for end-use products by consumers and inventory levels of such products in the supply chain; changes in demand from significant customers; changes in demand from major markets such as Germany; changes in customer order patterns; changes in product mix; capacity utilization; level of competition; pricing pressure and declines in average selling prices; delays in new product introduction; continued success in technological innovations and delivery of products with the features customers demand; shortage in supply of materials or capacity requirements; availability of financing; exchange rate fluctuations; litigation and other risks as described in the Company's SEC filings, including its annual report on Form 20-F filed on May 17, 2011. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in the forward looking statements are reasonable, it cannot guarantee future results, level of activity, performance, or achievements. You should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. All information provided in this press release is as of today's date, unless otherwise stated, and Canadian Solar undertakes no duty to update such information, except as required under applicable law.

SOURCE Canadian Solar Inc.