Canadian Solar Inc. is a publicly traded company that manufactures solar PV modules and runs large scale solar projects.

Canadian Solar Inc.
Company typePublic
NasdaqCSIQ
Industry
Founded2001; 23 years ago (2001)
FounderShawn Qu
Headquarters
Guelph, Ontario
,
Canada
Number of locations
Canada, Germany, Italy, Spain, South Africa, India, United Arab Emirates, Japan, Korea, Australia, the United States, Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Thailand, Malaysia, China, Brazil, Panama, Turkey, United Kingdom, South Africa, Vietnam, Indonesia
Key people
Shawn Qu (chairman, president, CEO)
Products
RevenueIncrease US$7.47 billion (2022)[1]
Increase US$147 million (2020)[2]
Number of employees
13,478 (2020)[3]
Websitecanadian-solar.com

History

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Founded in 2001 in Guelph, Ontario, Canada by Shawn Qu, Canadian Solar (NASDAQ: CSIQ) has subsidiaries in over 24 countries on 6 continents.[4] They manufacture solar PV modules, are involved in supporting the installation of solar energy, and are involved in a number of utility-scale power projects. With the company's acquisition of Recurrent Energy, Canadian Solar's total project pipeline reached 20.4 GW, including an increase in the late-stage project pipeline to 2.4 GW.

In November 2006, the company went public (NasdaqCSIQ) at $15 per share.[5]

Including two manufacturing facilities in Ontario, Canadian Solar employs nearly 9,000 workers worldwide. This translates to more than 16 GW of panel shipments, or approximately 70 million PV modules, in the past 15 years.[4]

The Human Rights Foundation criticized the firm after a 2021 report by The Globe and Mail revealed the company operates a solar farm in Xinjiang, China nearby a Uyghur internment camp.[6] The Guelph Mercury Tribune later revealed a second solar farm in Xinjiang.[7] In response to a question about the firm at a news conference, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said, "We will continue to work very, very closely and follow up with [Canadian Solar Inc., Dynasty Gold Corp. and GobiMin Inc.], and all companies that have investments in that area, to ensure they are following Canadian values and Canadian law."[8] The Globe further uncovered that in 2019 Canadian Solar signed a major agreement with the polysilicon manufacturer GCL-Poly, a company whose Xinjiang subsidiary has ties to forced labour.[9] The Mercury Tribune reported Canadian Solar sold both of its Xinjiang solar farms in late 2021 to a consortium of various Chinese banks and investment groups.[10] In August 2023, the U.S. Department of Commerce ruled that Canadian Solar circumvented tariffs on Chinese-made goods.[11]

Manufacturing

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Canadian Solar production facilities in Canada, China, Indonesia, Vietnam and Brazil make ingots, wafers, solar cells, solar PV modules, solar power systems, and other solar products.

The bulk of Canadian Solar's manufacturing facilities are located in Canada and China.[12] The Ontario plant has a production capacity of over 500 MW per year.[13]

Products

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Canadian Solar offers solar modules, solar power systems, off-grid solar home systems and other solar products.

Canadian Solar's global PV project business unit has been in operation for over six years and develops PV projects worldwide, specializing in project development, system design, engineering and financing. In addition, Canadian Solar can handle the deployment of photovoltaic projects systems, ranging a few hundred kilowatts to mega-watts.

Canadian Solar's standard modules are powered by 156 x 156 mm (6 inch) mono-crystalline or poly-crystalline solar cells.[14]

Projects

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Below are some of Canadian Solar's projects:

Europe

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North America

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  • 27 MW – Sunnybrook Health Services, Canada (2009)
  • 5 MW – Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, Georgia, USA (May 2010)
  • 148 MW – Ronald McDonald House, San Diego, California, USA (June 2010)
  • 5 MW – Keystone Solar Farm, Pennsylvania, USA (October 2012)
  • 8.5 MW - Canadian Solar 1 (CS1), Canada (August 2012)
  • 10 MW – Brockville 1, Canada (June 2013)
  • 9 MW – Brockville 2, Canada (September 2013)
  • 10 MW – Silvercreek Solar Park, Canada (January 2014)
  • 146.4 MW – Honduras (October 2014) [16]
  • 28.4 MW – Los Angeles, California (November 2014) [17]
  • 5.86 MW – Massachusetts (July 2014) [18]
  • 10 MW – Ontario, Canada (January 2015)
  • 100 MW – Ontario, Canada (July 2015) [19]
  • 100 MW – Texas Solar Project, Texas (November 2015) [20]
  • 100 MW – Kings County, California (August 2016) [21]
  • 200 MW – California (September 2016) [22]
  • 258 MW – Fresno County, California (September 2016) [23]
  • 60 MW – Los Angeles, California (September 2016) [24]
  • 5.74 MW – Fowler, California (November 2016) [25]

South America

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  • 185 MW – Brazil (September 2016) [26]
  • 191.5 MW – Brazil (October 2016) [27]
  • 114 MW – Brazil (November 2016) [28]

Asia-Pacific

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  • 30 MW - Near Tumxuk, Xinjiang, China (2019)[6]
  • 10 MW – Ninxiahongsibao, China (August 2010)
  • 20 MW – Wulate, Inner Mongolia, China (December 2013)
  • 30 MW – Suzhou Golden Sun Projects, China (November 2012)
  • 25 MW – Gajner, Bikaner, Rajasthan, India (November 2013)
  • 1.3 MW – Hyogo, pref. Awaji city, Japan (January 2013)
  • 5 MW – Normanton Solar Farm, Australia (December 2015) [29]
  • 17.4 MW – Longreach Solar Farm, Australia (September 2016) [30]
  • 30 MW – Oakey Solar Farm, Australia (September 2016) [30]
  • 30 MW – Telangana, India (October 2016) [31]
  • 190MW - Suntop Solar Farm - Australia (October 2020)
  • 146MW - Gunnedah Solar Farm, Australia (October 2020)

Acquisitions

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Recurrent Energy: Canadian Solar completed the acquisition of solar developer Recurrent Energy from Sharp Corporation for approximately $265 million in 2015.[32]

References

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  1. ^ "Q4 & FY Results 2022". Canadian Solar. Retrieved March 21, 2023.
  2. ^ "Q4 & FY Results 2020". Canadian Solar. Retrieved April 4, 2020.
  3. ^ "Canadian Solar Company Info". Bloomberg News.
  4. ^ a b "Make The Difference". Canadian Solar. Archived from the original on March 29, 2016. Retrieved October 12, 2018.
  5. ^ "2006: The Year of the Solar IPO Boom". SeekingAlpha. January 22, 2007. Archived from the original on October 12, 2007. Retrieved February 20, 2021.
  6. ^ a b Green, David; VanderKlippe, Nathan (January 18, 2021). "Canadian firms operate in China's Xinjiang region". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved January 18, 2021.
  7. ^ McNaughton, Graeme (July 22, 2021). "Guelph solar panel company has ties with Chinese firm sanctioned over forced labour". Guelph Mercury Tribune. Retrieved July 11, 2022.
  8. ^ Fife, Robert; Chase, Steven; VanderKlippe, Nathan (January 19, 2021). "Trudeau warns Canadian companies in China to avoid using forced labour". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved January 20, 2021.
  9. ^ VanderKlippe, Nathan (January 28, 2021). "Canadian Solar denies use of forced labour at its solar farm in western China". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved January 29, 2021.
  10. ^ McNaughton, Graeme (May 11, 2022). "Guelph company backtracks on blocking forced labour audit of its Chinese supply chain, operations". Guelph Mercury Tribune. Retrieved July 11, 2022.
  11. ^ "DOC Issues". Morgan Lewis.
  12. ^ "Solar firm making return to its Canadian roots". The Globe and Mail. December 12, 2010.
  13. ^ "Canadian Solar, a home-grown success story". APPrO. Retrieved October 14, 2018.
  14. ^ "Astenik Solar". Canadian Solar Standard Modules.
  15. ^ "Canadian Solar & Green City Complete 1-MW Project". www.renewableenergyworld.com. Retrieved October 12, 2018.
  16. ^ "Canadian Solar Inc. (CSIQ) Strikes 146.4 MW Honduras Deal". Retrieved October 14, 2018.
  17. ^ "Canadian Solar Completes Sale of 28.4 MW Solar Plant in the United States" (Press release). PR Newswire. Retrieved October 12, 2018 – via Canadian Solar.
  18. ^ "EDF Completes 5.86 MW in Massachusetts". Archived from the original on November 10, 2016. Retrieved November 9, 2016.
  19. ^ "Canadian Solar Completes 100 MW Utility-Scale Project In Ontario - Solar Industry". Solar Industry. July 27, 2015. Retrieved October 14, 2018.
  20. ^ "Canadian Solar Subsidiary Recurrent Energy Partners in 157 MW Texas Solar Project | AltEnergyMag". Retrieved October 12, 2018.
  21. ^ "Canadian Solar subsidiary brings 100 MW California solar plant online - Canadian Manufacturing". Canadian Manufacturing. August 23, 2016. Retrieved October 14, 2018.
  22. ^ "Canadian Solar Subsidiary Recurrent Energy Completes 200 Megawatt Tranquillity Solar Project" (Press release). PR Newswire – via Canadian Solar.
  23. ^ "Das Internetportal für erneuerbare Energien". Solarserver. Retrieved November 14, 2019.
  24. ^ "Canadian Solar Subsidiary Recurrent Energy Reaches Commercial Operation of 60 Megawatt Barren Ridge Solar Project". Archived from the original on November 10, 2016. Retrieved November 9, 2016.
  25. ^ "Canadian Solar Supplies 5.74 MW of PV Modules to Agricultural Projects in California". finance.yahoo.com. Archived from the original on November 4, 2016. Retrieved January 17, 2022.
  26. ^ "Canadian Solar Gets 185-MW Solar PV Projects in Brazil". NASDAQ.com. September 4, 2015. Retrieved October 12, 2018.
  27. ^ "Canadian Solar and EDF Energies Nouvelles to Partner and Start Construction of a 191.5 MWP Solar Energy Project in Brazil". finance.yahoo.com. Archived from the original on October 12, 2016. Retrieved January 17, 2022.
  28. ^ "Canadian Solar Wins 114 MW of Solar Power Projects In Brazil" (Press release). PR Newswire. Retrieved October 12, 2018 – via Canadian Solar.
  29. ^ "Solar Project: Normanton Solar Farm, Australia". Canadian Solar. Retrieved October 12, 2018.
  30. ^ a b "Canadian Solar Wins ARENA Funding For 47MWp Solar Power Projects In Australia". Archived from the original on November 10, 2016. Retrieved November 9, 2016.
  31. ^ "Canadian Solar Enters India's Solar Market | CleanTechnica". cleantechnica.com. October 25, 2016. Retrieved October 12, 2018.
  32. ^ "Canadian Solar to Acquire Recurrent Energy from Sharp Corporation for $265 Million". Recurrent Energy. February 3, 2015.
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