ONTARIO, Canada and SAN RAMON, Calif., July 2, 2012 /PRNewswire-Asia-FirstCall/ -- A solar project by Canadian Solar Inc. (the "Company", "we" or "Canadian Solar") (NASDAQ: CSIQ) and SkyPower Global ("SkyPower") has been chosen by Intersolar North America as a 2012 Solar Project Award Finalist.

The Thunder Bay Airport Solar Park - owned and developed by SkyPower and EPC-contracted to Canadian Solar - was hand-selected by an expert panel as one of the top entries under the "Solar Projects North America" category for 2012.

The Thunder Bay Airport Solar Park in Thunder Bay, Ontario is one of the first utility-scale solar installations on airport authority land. The plant went live in October 2011 and is expected to generate enough renewable energy to power 15,000 homes over the next 20 years. As a clean energy source, the Thunder Bay Airport Solar Park will effectively offset approximately 7,500 metric tons of carbon per year. The installation further secures Ontario's status as the greenest province in Canada.

The Thunder Bay project was one of the first of many forays for SkyPower and its EPC partner Canadian Solar into the world of commercial and utility-scale project development. Canadian Solar's successful Canadian-based business previously announced approximately 340MW of projects in Ontario and has successfully delivered turnkey EPC services for three of those projects. Canadian Solar has already established itself as one of the largest module manufacturers serving the North American market. Now the Company is expanding from pure-play module sales to deeper collaboration with utility-scale project developers in both the United States and Canada. Canadian Solar's U.S. Projects team recently announced the acquisition of approximately 122 MW of solar projects.

SkyPower is Canada's largest owner and developer of solar energy projects. As the company behind First Light I - Canada's first utility-scale, fully operating solar park - SkyPower also has one of the most impressive pipelines of solar projects in North America. SkyPower and Canadian Solar recently announced a 50:50 joint venture agreement towards spearheading international solar development, combining SkyPower's development expertise with Canadian Solar Inc.'s leadership in innovation, Engineering Procurement and Construction (EPC) and module manufacturing.

Canadian Solar will be presenting the Thunder Bay Airport solar project at Intersolar North America's Innovation Exchange at Moscone West, level 3, booth #9659:

Additionally, Canadian Solar CEO Dr. Shawn Qu will be speaking on two panels at Intersolar North America this year:

For more information, please feel free to stop by Canadian Solar's booth at the event: booth # 7411.

Award winners will be announced during the award ceremony on July 10, 2012 at 4.00 p.m. at the Innovation Exchange at Intersolar North America, Moscone West, Level 3, Booth # 9659.

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, 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.

U.S. offices:

12657 Alcosta Blvd, Suite 130, San Ramon, CA 94583
Telephone: 1-925-866-2700
Fax: 1-925-866-2704

945 Concord Street, Framingham, MA 01701
Telephone: 1-508-620-4743
Fax: 1-508-879-0698

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 risks regarding 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 in the Canadian markets; changes in customer order patterns; capacity utilization; pricing pressure and declines in average selling prices; delays in utility-scale project approval process; delays in utility-scale project construction; 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.

Canadian Solar Inc., Ed Job, IR Director, +86-512-6690-8088 x66525, ed.job@canadiansolar.com and Jill Hansen, Media Relations, +1-925-866-2700, jill.hansen@na.canadiansolar.com or Global IR Partners, David Pasquale +1-914-337-8801, csiq@globalirpartners.com