TORONTO, Oct. 2 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ -- Canadian Solar Inc. ("the Company", "CSI" or "we") (Nasdaq: CSIQ) today announced it has completed and commissioned the Phase I of its ingot and wafer plant on schedule, giving the Company an annualized ingot and wafer capacity of 60 MW. Phase II of the ingot plant is expected to be completed by year-end, ahead of the original schedule. This will bring the Company's ingot and wafer capacity to 150 - 200 MW.

In further developments, Canadian Solar's 250 MW Phase II cell plant will also be completed in October, with the next stage to begin immediately thereafter. As of October, CSI's current annualized capacity is 220 MW and is expected to reach the target of 400 MW by the end of December, also ahead of schedule.

Both new plants are fully financed and fully supplied with both wafer and feedstock for Q4. This will enable the Company to produce 45-50 MW of polysilicon cells and UMG e-Cells internally in Q4. This will be supplemented by solar cells supplied from our long-term solar cell suppliers at competitive prices. In light of these recent developments, the Company is reiterating its top-line revenue and gross margin guidance for 2008 of $850-$970 million and 13%-15%, respectively.

For 2009 the Company believes that it has secured approximately 4,000 Metric tons of UMG, enabling it to produce between 250 and 300 MW of UMG e-cells and e-Module in 2009. We are reiterating our shipment and gross margin guidance for 2009 of 500 - 550 MW and 13 - 15%, respectively.

Chairman and CEO Shawn Qu commented: "Demand remains high for both of our regular high-efficiency modules and our proprietary e-Module products. ASP's are expected to remain stable for the balance of the year and the raw material prices have begun to ease. The increased internal production capacity in Q4 will contribute meaningfully to our gross margins and will help us to reach our revenue and margin targets in spite of volatility in the Euro. Our highly flexible vertical integration model is robust; and has allowed us to quickly adopt to the market dynamics. We expect to be able to continue to meet our objectives for 2009 and are cautiously optimistic that there is upside potential in our '09 estimates."

About Canadian Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: CSIQ)

Founded in 2001, Canadian Solar Inc. (CSI) is a vertically integrated manufacturer of solar cell, solar module and custom-designed solar application products serving customers worldwide. CSI is incorporated in Canada and conducts all of its manufacturing operations in China. Backed by years of experience and knowledge in the solar power market and the silicon industry, CSI has become a major global provider of solar power products for a wide range of applications. For more information, please visit http://www.csisolar.com .

    For more information, please contact:

    In Toronto, Canada
     Alex Taylor, IR Director
     Canadian Solar Inc.
     Tel:   +1-905-530-2334
     Fax:   +1-905-530-2001
     Email: ir@csisolar.com

    In the U.S.
     John Robertson
     The Ruth Group
     Tel:   +1-646-536-7024
     Email: jrobertson@theruthgroup.com

Safe Harbor/Forward-Looking Statements for Canadian Solar

Certain statements in this press release including statements regarding expected future financial and industry growth 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 shortage or availability of the supply 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; changes in customer order patterns; changes in product mix; capacity utilization; level of competition; pricing pressure and declines in average selling price; 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 3, 2008. 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.