GUELPH, Ontario, Canada, September 27, 2016 – Canadian Solar Inc. (the “Company”, or “Canadian Solar”) (NASDAQ: CSIQ) wholly owned subsidiary and leading solar project developer Recurrent Energy today announced a 15-year Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) for 100 MWac of solar power in California with MCE, California’s first operating Community Choice Aggregation program.

Power from the Recurrent Energy-developed Tranquillity 8 solar project, located in Fresno County, California, will supply MCE with 100 MWac of clean solar electricity, which is sufficient to power 48,300 homes. Construction of the project is expected to begin in 2017 and the project will begin providing power to MCE by late 2018.

“We’re proud to be working with Recurrent Energy to grow California’s solar industry, helping to power economic strength, job creation and tackle climate change by transitioning our communities to clean energy,” said Dawn Weisz, CEO of MCE.

“This contract award further expands our contracted pipeline in the U.S. and marks the third and largest PPA between Recurrent Energy and MCE,” said Dr. Shawn Qu, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Canadian Solar. “MCE’s continued leadership in procuring renewable energy is to be commended. We are pleased to have the opportunity to continue delivering reliable, cost-competitive solar power to MCE and their customers.”

About MCE

MCE is a not‐for‐profit, community‐based electricity provider that gives customers the choice of having 50% to 100% of their electricity supplied from clean, renewable sources such as solar, wind, bioenergy, geothermal and hydroelectricity at competitive rates. MCE’s service area includes Marin County, Napa County, and the cities of Benicia, El Cerrito, Lafayette, San Pablo, Richmond and Walnut Creek. By choosing MCE, customers help support new in‐state and local renewable energy generation. For more information about MCE, visit www.mceCleanEnergy.org.

About Recurrent Energy

Recurrent Energy, a U.S. subsidiary of Canadian Solar Inc., is redefining what it means to be a mainstream clean energy company, with utility-scale solar plants that provide competitive clean electricity. The company has more than 4 GW of solar projects in development in North America. Additional details are available at: www.recurrentenergy.com

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 14 years, Canadian Solar has successfully delivered over 16 GW of premium quality modules to over 90 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.

Safe Harbor/Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements in this press release regarding the Company’s expected future shipment volumes, gross margins, business prospects and future quarterly or annual results, particularly the management quotations and the statements in the “Business Outlook” section, 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; 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 20, 2016. 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

Recurrent Energy Media Relations
Cate Powers

Vice President, Marketing and Communications

Tel: +1-415-501-9533
[email protected]

MCE Media Relations

Jamie Tuckey

Director of Public Affairs

Tel: +1-415-464-6024

[email protected]