GUELPH, Ontario, Jan. 5, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Canadian Solar Inc. (the "Company", or "Canadian Solar") (NASDAQ: CSIQ), one of the world's largest solar power companies, today announced that its wholly owned subsidiary, Canadian Solar Solutions Inc., completed the sale of two 10 MW AC solar power plants, DiscoveryLight and FotoLight, to Renewable Energy Trust Ontario Holdings, INC/ULC (RET), at a valuation comparable to other recent project sales completed by Canadian Solar on a per megawatt basis in the Ontario market. These two plants use Canadian Solar's CS6X-305P modules, and are part of a sales agreement whereby Canadian Solar will sell a total of three utility-scale solar power plants from its Ontario pipeline to RET.

DiscoveryLight is located in the town of Beaverton, while FotoLight is located in the Township of Prince Edward County. The electricity generated by these two power plants, both currently in commercial operation, will be sold to Hydro One under a 20-year Ontario Power Authority feed-in-tariff contract. 

Canadian Solar provided turnkey engineering, procurement and construction services, and will also provide operations and maintenance services. A third 10 MW AC power plant ("CityLights") is scheduled to begin commercial operation in the first quarter of 2015 with closing occurring post commercial operation.

"The good work we have done with our friends at Canadian Solar means we will be able to bring clean and cost-effective energy to Ontario households for years to come," said John A. Bohn, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of RET Capital. "We are pleased to announce this 40.9 MW DC deal and look forward to identifying and engaging similarly strategic opportunities in the new year."

"We are pleased with the sale of these two plants to RET Capital, and we look forward to closing the third plant in early 2015," said Dr. Shawn Qu, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Canadian Solar.  "This transaction underscores the successful execution of our business plan in Ontario, as well as our proven track record as a leading project developer on a global scale."

About Canadian Solar Inc.

Founded in 2001 in Ontario, 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 has an industry leading and geographically diversified pipeline of utility-scale solar power projects as well as a track record of successful solar deployment boasting over 8 GW of premium quality modules installed in over 70 countries during the past decade. Canadian Solar is committed to providing high-quality solar products and solar energy solutions to customers around the world. For more information about our company, products and projects please visit www.canadiansolar.com.

About Renewable Energy Trust Capital, Inc.

RET Capital is a privately held company that makes sponsor equity investments in solar PV power generation facilities. RET Capital works closely with its Asset Partners- project developers, EPC providers, IPPs, and utilities- to acquire projects with long-term contracted cash flows. The RET Capital team endeavours to help our Asset Partners meet their objectives through innovative structuring and design of portfolio acquisition and joint ownership opportunities. For more information, please visit www.renewabletrust.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 solar grade silicon; demand for solar 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, the U.S., Japan and China; changes in customer order patterns; capacity utilization; level of competition; pricing pressure and declines in average selling price; 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; utility-scale project construction delays; utility-scale project cancelation due to failure to obtain all the necessary permits; shortage in supply of materials or capacity requirements; availability of financing; exchange rate fluctuations; trade protectionism in Europe, the U.S. and India; litigation and other risks as described in the Company's SEC filings, including its annual report on Form 20-F filed on April 28, 2014. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in its 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.

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SOURCE Canadian Solar Inc.