Canadian Solar Inc. (Nasdaq: CSIQ), a manufacturer of solar cells and modules, today announced that it is commencing the site selection and approvals process to establish a 200 megawatt (MW) module manufacturing facility in Ontario.
The company currently has the majority of its manufacturing operations in China.
Canadian Solar said it has recently submitted a significant number of FIT applications to Ontario Power Authority and has also received considerable customer interest for "Made in Ontario" solar systems.
Canadian Solar expects to make definite decisions about the plant site, cost and ultimate size in 1Q10.
The new facility is expected to result in 500 new direct solar jobs in Ontario and sufficient capacity to supply electricity to 60,000 homes per year. The estimated cost of the plant will be C$24 million, and once completed, it will be one of the largest solar panel manufacturing facilities in North America. The plant will be completed in stages, with the first phase of operations expected to commence in 2010.
Canadian Solar’s manufacturing facility is expected to help drive Ontario’s emerging solar industry, which is growing as a result of the provincial government’s recently launched feed-in-tariff (FIT) program.
Canadian Solar Solutions Inc. (www.canadian-solar.ca) is a wholly owned subsidiary of Canadian Solar Inc. dedicated to the Canadian solar market. Based in Kitchener, Ontario (Canada), Canadian Solar Solutions provides turnkey solar systems for residential, commercial and solar farm customers in Canada.
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