Canadian Solar Obtains European ECS and EPD Environmental Certifications for Its High-Efficiency Solar Modules

GUELPH, ON, Nov. 3, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Canadian Solar Inc. (the "Company" or "Canadian Solar") (NASDAQ: CSIQ) today announced that its majority-owned subsidiary CSI Solar Co., Ltd. ("CSI Solar") has recently obtained France's Simplified Carbon Assessment ("Evaluation carbone simplifiée" or "ECS") certification and Italy's Environmental Product Declaration ("EPD") certification for its high-efficiency mono-facial and bifacial modules, using 182mm and 210mm silicon wafers. These environmental certifications show that Canadian Solar's modules have some of the lowest carbon footprints among crystalline solar modules in the market and will play a critical role in supporting customers' decarbonization goals.

The French ECS certification measures the direct and indirect carbon emissions of a solar module generated from its whole production process and upstream transportation, covering polysilicon, ingots, wafers, cells, and auxiliary materials. The ECS certification follows the ISO14040 and ISO14044 Life Cycle Assessment standards. According to the ECS certification, Canadian Solar's high-efficiency N-type HJT HiHero module's carbon emissions are below 400 kg/kWp, and that of its mono-PERC solar modules using 182mm and 210mm silicon wafers are below 500 kg/kWp. This is well below the industry average of around 500-550 kg/kWp.

Separately, the Italian EPD certification takes a slightly different approach to carbon footprint assessments. It is a comprehensive, internationally recognized report that documents the environmental impact of a solar module throughout its full life cycle, from upstream raw material mining, productions to the downstream installation, operation, maintenance, and end-of-life management, also covering upstream and downstream transportation. EPD focuses on the assessment of carbon emissions, energy consumption, and waste generation of a solar module, following ISO14040 and ISO14044 Life Cycle Assessment standard, as well as ISO14025 and EN15804 standards. The EPD certification is crucial for solar project developers and investors to evaluate the return on energy or ROE of solar power plants. The ROE is calculated as dividing the total amount of energy required to produce the solar modules installed by annual electricity generation of these installed modules, and Canadian Solar's modules are one of the most attractive in the market.

Dr. Shawn Qu, Chairman and CEO of Canadian Solar commented, "We are pleased to have obtained these two European environmental certifications that will make our products more attractive in the European and other markets where environmental sustainability is a key focus. Europe is one of our global key markets, accounting for around 25% of our total module shipments in the second quarter of 2022. With these environmental certifications, we expect to further expand our global market share, especially in the European markets where we have seen meaningful increase in demand for clean, reliable, and affordable solar energy."

About Canadian Solar Inc. Canadian Solar was founded in 2001 in Canada and is one of the world's largest solar technology and renewable energy companies. It is a leading manufacturer of solar photovoltaic modules, provider of solar energy and battery storage solutions, and developer of utility-scale solar power and battery storage projects with a geographically diversified pipeline in various stages of development. Over the past 21 years, Canadian Solar has successfully delivered around 76 GW of premium-quality, solar photovoltaic modules to customers across the world. Likewise, since entering the project development business in 2010, Canadian Solar has developed, built and connected over 6.8 GWp in over 20 countries across the world. Currently, the Company has around 311 MWp of solar projects in operation, 5.3 GWp of projects under construction or in backlog (late-stage), and an additional 21 GWp of projects in pipeline (mid- to early-stage). Canadian Solar is one of the most bankable companies in the solar and renewable energy industry, having been publicly listed on the NASDAQ since 2006. For additional information about the Company, follow Canadian Solar on LinkedIn or 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 general business, regulatory and economic conditions and the state of the solar and battery storage market and industry; geopolitical tensions and conflicts, including impasses, sanctions and export controls; volatility, uncertainty, delays and disruptions related to the COVID-19 pandemic; supply chain disruptions; 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 Japan, the U.S., China, Brazil and India; changes in effective tax rates; changes in customer order patterns; changes in product mix; changes in corporate responsibility, especially environmental, social and governance ("ESG") requirements; capacity utilization; level of competition; pricing pressure and declines in or failure to timely adjust average selling prices; delays in new product introduction; delays in utility-scale project approval process; delays in utility-scale project construction; delays in the completion of project sales; continued success in technological innovations and delivery of products with the features that customers demand; shortage in supply of materials or capacity requirements; availability of financing; exchange and inflation rate fluctuations; uncertainties related to the CSI Solar carve-out listing; litigation and other risks as described in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its annual report on Form 20-F filed on April 28, 2022. 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. Investors 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.

Canadian Solar Inc. Contacts

Isabel Zhang                                          David Pasquale
Investor Relations                                  Global IR Partners
Canadian Solar Inc.                               [email protected]  
[email protected]                Tel: +1-914-337-8801

SOURCE Canadian Solar Inc.