Canadian Solar Inc. and SkyPower Limited Announce 18.5MW Engineering, Procurement and Construction Agreement for Solar Projects in Ontario, Canada

Job Creating Solar Partnership to Optimize Turnkey Solutions for Utility-Scale Solar Parks

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Dec 13, 2010, 06:00 ET

KITCHENER and TORONTO, Ontario, Dec. 13, 2010 /PRNewswire-Asia-FirstCall/ -- Canadian Solar Solutions Inc., a subsidiary of Canadian Solar Inc. (Nasdaq: CSIQ), one of the world's largest solar companies, and SkyPower Limited, one of Canada's largest owners and developers of solar energy projects, today announced they have signed an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) agreement. As part of the agreement, Canadian Solar Solutions, through SkyPower's power purchase agreements, will commission two solar parks with a nameplate capacity of 18.5 megawatts (MW) in Ontario. SkyPower recently closed financing on these projects with Deutsche Bank.

The agreement will result in the creation of new green energy jobs and will further accelerate Canadian Solar's EPC turn-key business in Ontario. The first project is a 10.5 MW solar park in Napanee, home to First Light I, SkyPower's first solar project and Canada's first fully operational solar park. The second project is an 8.5 MW solar park located in Thunder Bay, Ontario.

"A new study called Solar Vision 2025, issued by the Canadian Solar Industry Association and prepared by consultants Ernst & Young, reports the cost of solar power projects will be cut by more than 50% before 2025, making the solar electricity competitive with electricity generated by oil, gas, hydro or nuclear plants," said Dr. Shawn Qu, CEO and President of Canadian Solar. "The report illustrates that solar power is already price-competitive with other sources at peak times. Agreements like the one announced today with SkyPower are very important. By partnering and also working closely together with the political leaders and other stakeholders in the province, we can help make the predictions in the study a reality."

The construction of both projects is expected to reach completion by mid-2011. Together, they are expected to generate approximately 19 million KWh in their first full year of operation and almost 400 million kWh total over the next 20 years. This is equivalent to producing enough electricity to power almost 33,000 homes and a CO2 offset of removing almost 60,000 cars off the road over the initial 20 years of the project.

"This agreement with Canadian Solar is an important milestone for both our companies and a direct result of the Province of Ontario's efforts to create a world-leading market for renewable power," said Kerry Adler, President and Chief Executive Officer of SkyPower Limited. "Agreements such as these are expected to create hundreds of new green energy jobs for Ontarians enhancing the solar industry's positive direction for a more sustainable environment for future generations."

SkyPower's projects will be composed of 47, 710 CS6P high efficiency polycrystalline modules and 36, 972 CS6P high efficiency monocrystalline respectively.

About SkyPower Limited

SkyPower Limited is one of Canada's largest owners and developers of solar Energy projects. The company owns with its partner Canada's first utility-scale fully operating solar park. SkyPower also has an extensive pipeline of solar projects under construction and at various stages of development representing over 1500 MW of potential name plate capacity across North America. SkyPower prospects, develops, manages, finances, owns and operates solar energy projects from initial discovery stages through to commercial operation. SkyPower helps many jurisdictions meet their increasing demand for cleaner, non-emitting renewable energy solutions. For more information about SkyPower, please visit www.skypower.com.

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 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. Canadian Solar Solutions Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Canadian Solar Inc. For more information on Canadian Solar Solutions, visit www.canadian-solar.ca.

Safe Harbor/Forward-Looking Statements:

Certain statements in this press release including but not limited to statements regarding our expected project capacity, projected construction commencement and completion date, grid parity, 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 and internal investigations as well as general business and economic conditions and the state of the solar industry; governmental support for the deployment of solar power; the availability 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 August 19, 2010. 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.