Canadian Solar Supplies Modules for Turkey's First and Largest Governmental PV Project Installed by Gehrlicher Merk Solar

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Sep 05, 2012, 05:30 ET

ONTARIO, Canada, Sept. 5, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Canadian Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: CSIQ) (the "Company" or "Canadian Solar"), one of the world's largest solar companies, today announced it will supply solar modules for Turkey's first and largest governmental solar PV project which will be installed by Gehrlicher Merk Solar, the joint venture company for the Turkish market of Gehrlicher Solar and Merk Solar Enerji. The two companies have won the public tendering for the Gursu municipality of Bursa in Turkey. The milestone PV project has a total capacity of 96 kW and is supported directly by the Turkish Prime Minister's office. Canadian Solar was selected out of 13 different module manufacturers for this project.

For the PV project in Gursu, Gehrlicher Merk Solar will use Canadian Solar's CS6P-P modules. The module type CS6P-P is a high-performance module featuring amongst others positive power tolerance (0 ~ +5W), a robust frame to up to 5400 PA load, anti-reflective with self-cleaning surface, outstanding performance at low irradiance, high energy yield at low NOCT, a 10 year product warranty on materials and workmanship and a 25 year linear power output warranty. The module recently delivered again highest PV USA (PTC) ratings - a universally recognized indicator of a solar system's real performance and power output.

Mr. Omer Cihan Karahan, CEO of Gehrlicher Merk Solar said: "This project is an important step towards fostering the greater energy independence of Turkey and the establishment of more solar energy in our country. After a long and careful decision making process and the evaluation of the offers of 13 different solar module manufacturers, we chose Canadian Solar due to the excellent customer service, proven quality and performance of their products. The longstanding experience of both Canadian Solar and Gehrlicher Merk Solar in the Turkish market will surely help us to win many MW projects including 500 kW's projects which do not need any licensing out of 600 MW's target of the country till 2014."

Turkey is regarded as one of the big future emerging markets for solar energy worldwide, as the insolation rates and temperature conditions are very favorable and in accordance with the government's decision earlier this year to place greater emphasis on fostering solar and simplifying the licensing process for power plant projects.

Dr Shawn Qu, Chairman and CEO of Canadian Solar, said: "We are very pleased with our cooperation with Gehrlicher Merk Solar on this project and are hoping to continue this success together in the future. The solar project in Gursu is an essential step forward in our business development efforts in the emerging Turkish renewable energy market. That we were selected showcases our strength in handling governmental tenders and acknowledges our longstanding experience in implementing reliable, high-performance solar solutions for a broad variety of individual customer needs and purposes. We hope to participate in further ground-breaking projects with our partners, especially when the expected 600 MW tendering procedures become officially effective."

Previously, Canadian Solar supplied the modules for a commercial 45 kW solar rooftop plant, which held the record for Turkey's largest rooftop installation until now.

About Gehrlicher Merk Solar

German photovoltaics company Gehrlicher Solar AG and the Turkish energy company Merk Solar Enerji Cozumleri San. ve Tic. Ltd. Sti., a member of the Akfel Group, have established an exclusive partnership. The joint venture company, named "Gehrlicher Merk Solar Enerji A.S." with headquarters in Istanbul, will serve photovoltaic markets in Turkey and its neighbouring countries. Each partner has an equal share in the company. The activities of the new company will include project development, engineering, EPC services, financing and operation of power plants.

About Canadian Solar

Canadian Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: CSIQ) 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, Australia and Asia, Canadian Solar provides premium quality, cost-effective and environmentally-friendly solar solutions to support global, sustainable development. For more information, please 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 April 27, 2012. 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.