Canadian Solar Infrastructure Fund to Be a Major Component in the Tokyo Stock Exchange's New Infrastructure Funds Index

GUELPH, Ontario, April 23, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Canadian Solar Inc. (the "Company", or "Canadian Solar") (NASDAQ: CSIQ), announced today that Canadian Solar Infrastructure Fund, Inc. ("CSIF") (TSE: 9284), listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange ("TSE"), will be included in a new Infrastructure Funds Index to be launched by TSE on April 27, 2020. Canadian Solar Projects K.K. is the sole sponsor and Canadian Solar Asset Management is the asset manager of CSIF.

The Infrastructure Funds Index is an Environmental, Social and Governance ("ESG") related finance product offered by the TSE. According to the TSE announcement, CSIF is expected to be a major component of the new TSE Infrastructure Funds Index, along with other sponsored funds from Marubeni and Itochu in Japan.

Dr. Shawn Qu, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Canadian Solar, commented, "We are very happy to learn that Canadian Solar Infrastructure Fund (CSIF) will be included in the new Infrastructure Funds Index by the Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE). This event trails 50 years of Earth Day celebrations and reflects the growing importance of Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) initiatives globally. We are proud to be part of ESG focused investment ecosystem. We want to Make the Difference in Japan as we continue our solar development worldwide."

Canadian Solar opened its first office in Tokyo in 2009 and has since expanded its operations to 9 offices in 5 prefectures. The Company has successfully delivered over 5.5 GW of premium quality modules to its residential, commercial and utility-scale customers, including its own utility-scale projects.

Canadian Solar started developing its own solar power plants in Japan in 2012, and has since developed, built and connected 297 MWp of solar projects, with an additional 63 MWp currently in construction and 218 MWp under development. Globally, Canadian Solar has built a strong track record developing and connecting over 5.6 GWp in solar PV plants.

In 2017, Canadian Solar launched the initial public offering of CSIF and listed its stock units on the TSE. CSIF was the first global IPO of a Japanese infrastructure fund. With approximately JPY 49 billion of assets under management as of the end of December 2019, CSIF is a leading infrastructure fund player on the TSE and ranks among the largest listed funds on the TSE Infrastructure Funds Index in terms of market capitalization and assets under management. The Japan Credit Rating Agency, Ltd. has assigned CSIF with a credit rating of A- with stable outlook in 2019, and the highest green rating ("Green1") grade in 2017. Canadian Solar has a 14.7% partial ownership in CSIF and intends to play a key role in its growth strategy.

About Canadian Solar Inc.

Canadian Solar was founded in 2001 in Canada and is one of the world's largest solar power companies. It is a leading manufacturer of solar photovoltaic modules and provider of solar energy solutions and has a geographically diversified pipeline of utility-scale solar power projects in various stages of development. Over the past 19 years, Canadian Solar has successfully delivered over 40 GW of premium-quality, solar photovoltaic modules to customers in over 150 countries. 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 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 25, 2019. 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.

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SOURCE Canadian Solar Inc.