Canadian Solar Achieves ISO 14001 Environmental Management Standards and REACH Certification

News provided by

Mar 29, 2011, 06:00 ET

MUNICH, Germany, March 29, 2011 /PRNewswire-Asia-FirstCall/ -- Canadian Solar Inc. (the "Company", "we" or "Canadian Solar") (Nasdaq: CSIQ), one of the world's largest solar companies, has been certified by the two industry standards ISO 14001 and REACH (registration, evaluation, authorization and restriction of chemicals). The basis for complying with the international ISO standard is the introduction of an environmental management system to administrate and to monitor the corporate environmental objectives. With their CS6 series modules, the company meets the requirements of the REACH directive: The relevant analysis has proven that the modules are free from so-called "substances of very high concern" (SVHC), and are therefore environmentally-friendly.

"We are proud to be compliant with ISO 14001. Environmental, technological, cost and performance are key concerns and anchors of our growth strategy," said Dr. Shawn Qu, Chairman and CEO of Canadian Solar. "Customers rely on Canadian Solar for our innovation leadership, product efficiency and environmentally-friendly policies. Central to our efforts and success is ensuring safe working conditions. Like we do in our product strategy, we also believe in permanently optimizing what has already been achieved in environmental standards."

The environmental management system required by ISO 14001 includes the corporate environmental policy, the goals that come with it and an environmental program. In the implementation, Canadian Solar has taken into account both aspects of environmental law and business. Moreover, the company has implemented mechanisms for the continuous improvement and development of the relevant measures and processes in the sense of the ISO standard.

REACH Certification

In addition to the ISO 14001 standard, Canadian Solar's CS6 series modules also comply with the European Union's REACH chemical directive. The substances used in the production of the CS6 modules are free from substances of high concern. This includes, for instance, carcinogenic or mutagenic substances. The analysis of the Canadian Solar modules was performed by the approved SGS group.

"We basically welcome the REACH directive, because it gives us legal security and provides a comparison against European manufacturers. But most of all, the directive is also a gauge for our success in research, development and production," said Qu.

REACH applies to all manufacturers who import more than 1,000 tons of chemical substances and their follow-up products per year into the EU. This value will step by step be reduced to one ton per year by 2018. REACH obliges domestic and foreign companies according to the "no data – no market" principle to have finished products analyzed for such substances of very high concern before they enter circulation. This applies to the entire value chain, ranging from preliminary products to production and recycling; the analysis also takes into account the working conditions for the people in production.

About Canadian Solar

Canadian Solar Inc. (Nasdaq: CSIQ) is one of the world's largest solar companies. As a leading vertically integrated provider of ingot, wafer, solar cell, solar module 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 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, including customers of our silicon materials sales; changes in demand from major markets such as Germany and Canada; risks associated with building our new Ontario facility; 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 originally filed on June 8, 2009, as amended by its report on Form 20-F/A filed on October 14, 2009. 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.