Canadian Solar Announces New Sales Agreement for Solar PV Projects in Tanzania

ONTARIO, Canada, Feb. 27, 2013 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Canadian Solar (the "Company" or "Canadian Solar") (NASDAQ: CSIQ), one of the world's largest solar companies, today announced a 85 kW sales agreement with Zara Solar, a company from Tanzania specialized in solar PV importing, retail and installations. Including this new order, Canadian Solar will have supplied more than 350 kW of its solar modules to Zara Solar for off-grid PV projects in Tanzania.

Canadian Solar's off-grid solar modules between 15 and 90 W are used for these projects. The modules are ideally suited for the local environmental conditions. "What convinced us to choose Canadian Solar was its proven performance and reliability, high quality and commitment to excellence. Additionally, we focus on long-term relationships with trustworthy partners. We also stress experience, an extended track record and a very good customer service. Canadian Solar excels in all of our required criteria," said Mohamedrafik Parpia, founder and owner of Zara Solar.

Zara Solar offers a wide range of solar PV products and systems for Tanzania for a broad variety of fields of implementation. The company's highly-trained solar electricians emphasize secure and high-quality systems and install economical off-grid solar power solutions. Zara Solar solar systems provide clean electricity to homes and communities without access to a stable grid or for emergency power supply in blackout situations. Tanzania is an attractive solar growth market. While only about 15 percent of the country's population has access to electricity, Tanzania ranks among the world's top 10 countries for solar irradiation.

"We are very pleased about our agreement with Zara Solar, a leading solar PV company in the Tanzanian market.  We are excited to further build our presence in this emerging marketplace for sustainable energy solutions. Our leadership, quality and cost benefits enable us to work with the best partners in important markets worldwide," said Dr. Shawn Qu, Chairman and CEO of Canadian Solar. "Together with Zara Solar, we can promote the use of solar PV by municipal organizations and commercial businesses in rural communities throughout Tanzania."

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, Africa, Middle East, 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 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 our project markets, including Canada; changes in customer order patterns; 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; 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.