Canadian Solar Inc. to Build Third SkyPower Solar Park Located in Thunder Bay, Ontario

EPC agreement to optimize turnkey solutions for utility-scale solar parks and create new clean energy jobs

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Mar 16, 2011, 06:00 ET

KITCHENER, TORONTO, Canada, March 16, 2011 /PRNewswire-Asia-FirstCall/ -- Canadian Solar Inc. (Nasdaq: CSIQ), and SkyPower Limited announced today, a third engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) agreement to build a 10.5 MW solar park in Thunder Bay, Ontario. Canadian Solar is one of the world's largest solar power companies. SkyPower is Canada's largest owner and developer of large-scale solar projects and most recently was awarded 148.3 MW through thirteen power purchase agreements by the Ontario Power Authority under the Feed-in Tariff Program.

This EPC agreement is in addition to two previous EPC agreements signed by both companies in December 2010. SkyPower closed financing with Deutsche Bank on these projects late last year. The previous 18.5 MW EPC agreement consists of 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 on Thunder Bay International Airport Authority land with the third being the 10.5 MW project in Thunder Bay on Fort William First Nation land.

Once fully operational, the combined total for these projects is approximately 30 MW of nameplate capacity and are expected to create hundreds of new clean energy jobs to further accelerate both the Canadian Solar EPC turn-key business and the successful completion of these SkyPower solar parks in Ontario.

"In continuing with the growth of Canadian Solar and our working partnership with SkyPower, this next collaboration strengthens our position as a leader in turnkey solution providers for utility scale and commercial systems in Ontario," said Dr. Shawn Qu, CEO and President of Canadian Solar. "We see great synergy in manufacturing the solar panels and incorporating them into an overall system design to optimize performance and value for our customers while contributing to the reduction of our carbon imprint as a by-product of our joint achievements."

The construction of all three projects is expected to reach completion by third quarter 2011. Together, they are expected to generate approximately 28 million KWh in their first full year of operation and almost 600 million kWh total over the next 20 years. This is equivalent to producing enough electricity to power almost 50,000 homes and a CO2 offset of removing almost 90,000 cars off the road over the initial 20 years of the project.

"As Canada's largest developer and owner of solar projects, we are pleased to expand our relationship with Canadian Solar and once again select them to build this important project," said Kerry Adler, President and Chief Executive Officer of SkyPower. "We look forward to the completion of these three solar projects as we continue to build out our extensive solar pipeline across the Province, which will to bring an abundance of economic, environmental and health benefits to the communities where we are actively building.

About SkyPower Limited

SkyPower Limited is Canada's largest owner and developer of solar energy projects. As the owner of First Light I, Canada's first utility-scale, fully operating solar park, SkyPower also has one of North America's most impressive solar pipeline of projects. With 260 MW power purchase contracted, 30 MW of installed operating capacity, 50 MW actively under construction and over 1.4 GW at advanced stages of development across North America, SkyPower prospects, develops, manages, finances, owns and operates solar energy projects from initial discovery stages through to commercial operation. SkyPower is helping 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 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. 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, and other statements, 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.