Canadian Solar Releases New Sustainability Report

GUELPH, Ontario, Dec. 6, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Canadian Solar Inc. (the "Company", or "Canadian Solar") (NASDAQ: CSIQ), one of the world's largest solar power companies, announced today that its latest Corporate Social Responsibility Report is now available online.

The report shows Canadian Solar's firm commitment to sustainable social and environmental developments and the company's great efforts in making the difference in business and in local communities.

The Corporate Social Responsibility Report is prepared following the guidelines of Global Reporting Initiativetm (GRI) G4 CORE option, the global standard for sustainability reports. Highlights of the 2017 report include:

Economic Highlights:

• In 2017, Canadian Solar delivered 6.83 GW of solar modules worldwide, bringing the Company's cumulative solar module shipments to over 25 GW, equivalent to generating around 36,500,000 MWh of clean electricity per year.
• As of the end of 2017, Canadian Solar had cumulatively built 3,149.2 MW of solar power plants globally, a 24.2% increase compared with the 2,535.6 MW of solar plants built at the end of 2016.

Environmental Highlights:

• Water usage per kW production decreased from 1.14 M³ in 2014 to 0.59 M³ in 2017, a reduction of 48%.
• Electricity usage per kW production decreased from 12.23 kWh in 2014 to 7.22 kWh in 2017, a reduction of 41%.
• CO2 emissions for every kW in module production decreased from 905.4 Kg in 2011 to 392.67 Kg in 2017, a decrease of 56.6%.

Social Highlights:

• In 2017, the Company employed more than 12,000 people worldwide and created 2,749 new jobs.
• In 2017, 31,217 training programs were provided to the 12,000 employees, an average of 2.5 training programs for every employee. These training programs enhanced employees' work skills and knowledge.

Dr. Shawn Qu, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Canadian Solar, commented: "At Canadian Solar, we are unwavering in our responsibility to our shareholders, customers, employees, suppliers and the community. Through this report, we hope to highlight our accomplishment to promote sustainable development and provide clean energy to communities across the globe. We will continue to bring a better and cleaner life for people all over the world."

Canadian Solar's sustainability report can be directly downloaded as PDF via https://www.canadiansolar.com/media/canadian_solar_csr_report_2017_en_01.pdf

About Canadian Solar Inc.
Founded in 2001 in Canada, Canadian Solar is one of the world's largest and foremost solar power companies. As a leading manufacturer of solar photovoltaic modules and provider of solar energy solutions, Canadian Solar also has a geographically diversified pipeline of utility-scale power projects in various stages of development. In the past 17 years, Canadian Solar has successfully delivered over 30 GW of premium quality modules to over 150 countries around the world. Furthermore, Canadian Solar is one of the most bankable companies in the solar industry, having been publicly listed on NASDAQ since 2006. For additional information about the company, follow Canadian Solar on LinkedIn or visit www.canadiansolar.com.

Canadian Solar's 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 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 Japan, the U.S., India and China; 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; 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 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 26, 2018. 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.

SOURCE Canadian Solar Inc.