Canadian Solar Inc., one of the largest solar power companies, announced on December 9th that it has signed a $40 million loan agreement with Harvest North Star Capital. The loan facility is split into 3 tranches, with the drawdown of the first tranche expected in December of 2013. The loan facility will be used to finance the development of several ground-mounted solar power projects in Japan totaling around 145.1 MWdc, with approximately 40-50 MWdc expected to start construction during the first half of 2014.

"We are delighted to have the support from Harvest North Star for developing our solar power project pipeline in this important market. This loan agreement demonstrates that we are on track to execute on our Japanese solar project pipeline, consolidate our position as a leading solar energy solutions provider on a global basis, and extend the visibility into our business results well into the future," said Dr. Shawn Qu, President, Chairman and CEO of Canadian Solar.

"As one of the first dedicated structured finance funds in China, we are pleased to be Canadian Solar's financial partner providing innovative financing solutions in this fast growing market," said Peter Tsao, Founding and Managing Partner of Harvest North Star.