Thank you, operator, and welcome everyone to Canadian Solar's fourth quarter 2025 conference call. Please note that today's conference call is accompanied with slides, which are available on Canadian Solar's investor relations website within the events and presentations section.

Joining us today are Dr. Shawn Qu, Chairman and CEO; Colin Parkin, President of Canadian Solar and President of e-STORAGE; Ismael Guerrero, Corporate VP and President of Canadian Solar subsidiary Recurrent Energy; and Xinbo Zhu, Senior VP and CFO.

All company executives will participate in the Q&A session after management's formal remarks. On this call, Shawn will go over some key messages for the quarter; Colin and Ismael will review business highlights for manufacturing and Recurrent Energy, respectively; and Xinbo will go through the financial results.

Colin will conclude the prepared remarks with the business outlook, after which we will have time for questions. Before we begin, I would like to remind listeners that management's prepared remarks today, as well as their answers to questions, will contain forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties.

The company claims protection under the safe harbor for forward-looking statements that is contained in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Actual results may differ from management's current expectations.

Any projections of the company's future performance represent management's estimates as of today. Canadian Solar assumes no obligation to update these projections in the future unless otherwise required by applicable law.

A more detailed discussion of risks and uncertainties can be found in the company's annual report on Form 20-F filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Management's prepared remarks will be presented within the requirements of SEC Regulation G regarding generally accepted accounting principles, or GAAP.

Some financial information presented during the call will be provided on both a GAAP and non-GAAP basis. By disclosing certain non-GAAP information, management intends to provide investors with additional information to enable further analysis of the company's performance and underlying trends.

Management uses non-GAAP measures to better assess operating performance and to establish operational goals. Non-GAAP information should not be viewed by investors as a substitute for data prepared in accordance with GAAP.

Now I would like to turn the call over to Canadian Solar's Chairman and CEO, Dr. Shawn Qu.

Shawn, please go ahead.

Thank you, Wina, and thank you all for joining our fourth quarter earnings call. 2025 was another challenging year marked by persistent market headwinds and a shifting regulatory landscape.

Through these turbulent conditions, we demonstrated strategic resilience and operational discipline. We prioritized margin and diversified our profit drivers, particularly in energy storage.

Now, let's review our operating and financial results. Please turn to slide 3.

In the fourth quarter, we shipped 4.3 GW of solar modules, bringing total shipments to global customers to 24.3 GW for the year. In response to the prolonged solar downturn, we have pivoted away from industry's traditional focus on shipment volumes.

Instead, we are concentrating on strategic high-value markets. Notably, in US market, we continue to build on our historically strong track record.

In 2025, we delivered a record 8.1 GW to the United States. In energy storage, the volatile tariff environment shifted some shipment volumes into 2026.

Even so, we ended the year with a record 7.8 GWh of global shipments, including 3.9 GWh delivered to the United States. Given downward adjustments in both solar modules and energy storage volumes, along with lighter project sales from Recurrent Energy, our total revenue of 2025 was $5.6 billion.

Gross margin improved by 160 basis points year-over-year. This was driven by a higher mix of module shipments to high-value regions and a larger share of storage volumes delivered under third-party contracts.

We maintained tight control over operating expenses and achieved operating income of $43 million for the full year. However, a volatile macro environment increased FX losses and interest cost grew as we increased debt to support our IPP build-out.

As a result, we recorded a net loss attributable to Canadian Solar of $104 million, or $2.5 per diluted share. Canadian Solar has continuously evolved over more than two decades in the renewable industry.

Global opportunities have shifted over time, and we have built a strong global track record across solar manufacturing, storage manufacturing, and project development. Today, we see a compelling opportunity to create value by returning to our home base in North America.

In December 2025, we announced a strategic initiative to resume direct oversight of our US operations by forming our new US manufacturing platform, CS PowerTech. For an update on our US manufacturing road map, please turn to slide 4.

Canadian Solar is spearheading the effort to reshore manufacturing to North America. In Mesquite, Texas, we have successfully ramped our solar module factory to an annual production run rate exceeding 5 GW, supported by 1,500 local employees.

As we have previously noted, we believe the United States is best served by a resilient domestic supply chain. Consistent with this view, we are doubling our nameplate capacity to 10 GW peak by the end of 2026.

This expansion is expected to increase our local workforce to 1,700 employees. This will make us the largest crystalline silicon solar module manufacturer in the country.

We are also pleased to report progress at our flagship solar cell factory in Jeffersonville, Indiana. In response to strong customer demand, we are expanding our initial nameplate capacity beyond the originally planned 5 GW peak as we install and commission additional production lines through 2026.

Phase 1 will have a nameplate capacity of 2.1 GW peak and will use state-of-art heterojunction technology, or HJT. Trial production is scheduled to begin next month.

Phase 1 will represent the only commercially operational HJT solar cell facility in the United States. Phase 2 will add 4.2 GW of capacity, bringing our total US solar cell nameplate capacity to 6.3 GW peak.

This will make us the largest crystalline silicon solar cell manufacturer in the country. We expect trial production of Phase 2 to begin by the end of 2026.

We recognize the significant value of adding Phase 2 to our solar cell facility, and we believe the market does as well. This was demonstrated by our recently completed $230 million convertible bond issuance.

Demand for storage in US also continues to grow strongly. The rapid build-out of data centers to support AI growth is driving increase in power demand for data center infrastructure.

Our OBBBA-compliant storage solutions produced in Southeast Asia have seen very strong demand. As a result, we plan to scale the resources there to increase both system and battery cell capacity throughout 2026.

Hence, we'll be both expanding our Southeast Asia energy storage manufacturing capacity and advancing Phase 2 of our US solar cell factory in tandem. Given the commercial priority of these two significant investments, we are strategically delaying progress at our battery cell and pack production facility in Shelbyville, Kentucky.

Given our long-term commitment to US manufacturing, Recurrent Energy will proactively rebalance its business towards monetizing in-construction and operating assets in order to optimize cash flow and manage leverage. In conclusion, I am proud of our team for delivering strong performance this year, and I look forward to continue the momentum we are building in our US manufacturing initiatives.

With that, I will now turn the call over to Colin, who will provide more details on our manufacturing business. Colin, please go ahead.

Thank you, Shawn. Please turn to slide 5.

In the fourth quarter, we continue to operate against a challenging solar market backdrop. Upstream cost increases, particularly in silver, along with the cost associated with underutilization across our global solar supply chain required careful volume management to protect margins.

As a result, we delivered 4.3 GW of solar modules, below our guidance. In storage, shipments were delayed into the first quarter of 2026 due to construction delays at one of our customer sites.

As a result, we delivered 2 GWh, slightly below our guidance. These two volume shortfalls resulted in lower than expected revenue of $1.3 billion.

Solar module ASPs remained at record lows throughout 2025. We have been an industry leader in pivoting away from volume growth towards value growth.

By controlling shipments to less profitable markets and increasing shipments to the US market, we maintained blended pricing above the industry average. In 2025, the US accounted for approximately 1/3 of our global module shipments.

Meanwhile, our storage business in 2025 faced challenges created by tariff volatility and the passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. These policy uncertainties materially impacted customers' project planning.

While we did not lose any opportunities, some volume shifted into 2026 as we worked closely with customers to navigate these trials. Margins normalized in the second half of the year as we delivered more recently signed contracts.

With the increase in lithium carbonate prices, we are actively managing our exposure. Today, the two most important drivers of our manufacturing margin are the mix of solar module shipments to the US and the performance of our storage business.

Within US module shipments, domestic manufacturing is becoming increasingly important to margin as we reshore production and deliver a greater portion of our strategy through our own domestic capacity. Now, let me walk you through the latest updates on our battery energy storage business.

Please turn to slide 6. We delivered 2 GWh in the fourth quarter, corresponding to $297 million in revenue after accounting for volumes delivered to our own projects.

Despite the delays caused by policy changes, we ended the year with a record 7.8 GWh of energy storage shipments delivered globally, a year-over-year increase of 19%. Over the past three years, we have tripled our sales in this business.

Our momentum is further reflected in our record contracting backlog of $3.6 billion as of March 13th, 2026. This includes contracted long-term service agreements covering 29 GWh of projects.

Today, we are the market leader in our home country of Canada in terms of contracted volume, with multiple gigawatt hours under contract. We maintain a strong presence in key markets, including the United States and the United Kingdom, while scaling delivery in newer markets such as Australia and Latin America.

At the same time, we continue to actively engage in markets such as Japan and mainland Europe, where we see attractive new opportunities. In terms of applications, we see a significant opportunity driven by the rapid build-out of data centers.

For example, the 2.5 GWh supply agreement we recently signed with a major US utility reflects a sharp increase in electricity demand driven by AI and hyperscale data center development. Battery energy storage is playing an increasingly critical role in supporting the additional power requirements of data center infrastructure.

By strengthening regional grid capacity, our storage solutions help ensure reliable power for these emerging loads. We have built a dedicated team focused specifically on the requirements of data centers and related infrastructure, and we are beginning to see the strong results from that effort.

Our focus is on delivering comprehensive power solutions, including support for data centers and long-duration applications. Our differentiation lies in providing competitive and reliable total solutions.

We combine strong execution capabilities, deep experience in complex grid interconnection and commissioning, and long-term service expertise with a proven product platforms and track record. This allows us to deliver the value our customers are seeking as they navigate the changing demands created by rapidly growing electricity loads.

Now, let me hand the call over to Ismael, who will provide an overview of Recurrent Energy, Canadian Solar's global project development business. Ismael, please go ahead.

Thank you, Colin. Please turn to slide 7.

In the fourth quarter, we sold a few small PV projects in Japan, bringing total full-year 2025 sales to nearly 1 GW. Revenues from operating solar and battery energy storage projects decreased sequentially due to seasonality, while power services performance remained stable.

Two major project sales originally planned for the fourth quarter have now shifted into 2026. One of these projects has already been sold in the first quarter.

Gross margin was further pressured by impairments to project assets within our pipeline. Moreover, without sufficient scale from project sales during the quarter, we were unable to cover operating expenses, resulting in an operating loss of $69 million.

We continue to shift our business mix towards the monetization of operating and under-construction assets in order to strengthen our balance sheet and improve cash flow. As we manage the pace of construction activities, we are also optimizing our pipeline for quality, focusing on generating value from existing opportunities.

Please turn to slide 8 for an update on our pipeline. As of December 2025, we have secured interconnections for around 7 GW of solar and 15 GWh of energy storage globally, excluding projects already in operation.

As part of our continued effort to streamline our pipeline, we have removed projects that have been impaired this quarter. Following these adjustments, our total project pipeline now stands at 24 GW of solar and 83 GWh of energy storage.

Now, let me hand the call over to Xinbo, who will go through our financial results in more detail. Xinbo, please go ahead.

Thank you, Ismael. Please turn to slide 9.

In the fourth quarter, we delivered revenue of $1.2 billion. Revenue was below guidance due to project sales delayed into 2026 and lower than expected volumes in both solar and storage.

Gross margin was 10.2%, impacted by project asset impairments at Recurrent Energy and an inventory write-down in our manufacturing business. Selling and distribution expenses decreased 20% sequentially, primarily due to lower shipping costs associated with reduced shipment volumes.

General and administrative expenses decreased 8% sequentially, driven by continued cost control measures. Net interest expense in the fourth quarter was $39 million, up $10 million from the prior quarter.

This increase was driven by a modest rise in total debt balances. Net foreign exchange loss in the fourth quarter was $15 million, driven by a weaker US dollar and a stronger Chinese RMB.

Total net loss for the quarter was $131 million. Net loss attributable to Canadian Solar shareholders was $86 million, or $1.66 per diluted share.

Now, let's turn to cash flow and the balance sheet. Please turn to slide 10.

In the fourth quarter, net cash flow used in operating activities was $65 million, driven by changes in working capital, specifically an increase in project assets, partially offset by a decrease in inventories as inventory in the prior quarter had increased in anticipation of higher input costs. Capital expenditures for the year totaled $962 million, slightly below forecast.

This was primarily due to payment timing, which we expect to occur in 2026. Net cash provided by financing activities was $22 million, as debt increased incrementally to provide additional financial flexibility for the group.

Of our $6.5 billion in gross debt, non-recourse debt under Recurrent Energy as of December 31st, 2025, was $2.2 billion. We ended the year with a cash balance of $1.9 billion, which we will deploy prudently in line with our strategic priorities.

Now, let me turn the call back to Colin, who will conclude with our guidance and business outlook. Colin, please go ahead.

Thank you, Xinbo. Please turn to slide 11.

For the first quarter of 2026, we expect our manufacturing segment to deliver solar module shipments between 2.2 to 2.4 GW. For energy storage, we expect shipments between 1.7 to 1.9 GWh.

We forecast total revenue for the first quarter to be between $900 million and $1.1 billion, with gross margin expected to range from 13 to 15%. Margins in the first quarter are expected to remain soft across both the manufacturing segment and Recurrent Energy.

This reflects cost increases across the solar supply chain as well as delayed project sales at Recurrent Energy. For the full year of 2026, we are issuing new guidance.

We expect to deliver 6.5 to 7 GW of module shipments and between 4.5 to 5.5 GWh of energy storage shipments to the US market. Our solar module shipments in the US are expected to be slightly lower in 2026 compared with 2025.

This is due to a limited supply of solar cells qualified as non-PFE under the OBBBA during the first half of the year. The elevated cost of these cells will also affect profitability.

We believe this constraint will be temporary as our own domestic solar cell production ramps during the second and third quarters. Similarly, battery energy storage shipments are expected to be weighted towards the second half of the year.

Within our project development business, our focus remains on rebalancing the portfolio towards asset monetization while continuing to optimize our cost structure. Overall, 2026 will be a transition year as we accelerate our US manufacturing road map and further diversify our long-term profitability drivers.

With that, I would now like to open the floor for questions. Operator?

Thanks so much, guys, and congratulations on being able to shift the business so aggressively here. I'm curious about the pricing environment in the US.

What are you guys seeing in terms of trend lines here and long-term support for pricing that supports the aggressive capacity expansion?

Colin, this is Shawn speaking. I guess you mean the solar pricing.

Solar long-term pricing in US is stable. As a matter of fact, our main market in US is the utility-scale project market, which are usually large scale project, big orders, and with a few quarters of lead time in general.

In this market, we have seen the pricing per watt going up. For example, from the beginning of the year to now, we have seen the US pricing in average go up 2 to 3 cents US, some more, mainly in response to, I think, number one, the tight supply of the so-called OBBBA-compliant solar cell supply, but also response to the higher material cost, especially the silver cost.

I think this will allow us to sustain the margin in the US market, Colin. Now, for the storage, we also see the price stable and also respond to the higher lithium price.

As you probably know, lithium carbonate price also went up, along with major commodity prices, also went up. The lithium carbonate price also went up this year, since late December.

The current new price has reflected this. This will allow us to maintain the gross margin, more or less, for the US market, Colin.

Thank you so much, Shawn. This was super helpful.

Then just from an organizational perspective, as you look at a different strategy around revenue and margin, how should we be thinking about the operating expenses and the baseline there, and how that allows for some significant operating leverage as you start to grow again on the top line?

Yeah. In terms of operating expenses, we see it going down, like proportional to the shipment volume, because a large part of operating expenses is the shipping cost, and also the the overhead overhead cost to support volume.

If the volume grow, then operating expenses also grow, but if the volume go down, the the this operating expenses also go down. That's in case of So, in we will see some increase of operating causes for the energy storage, but meanwhile we'll see operating cost reduction in the solar area.

I think moving forward, the challenges are in the solar If solar price continue to go down, then that will make the like percentage operating expenses for solar bigger. However, fortunately, since Q1, I mean since January this year, we don't see the absolute ASP of solar module going down anymore.

We actually see it go up, and also we don't see the the energy storage price going down. It's also going up.

I think as long as we can continue to control and operating expenses and make our operation more more more efficient, we'll be able to grow the the the bottom line. I think that you will see that happen in starting from Q2, I believe.

Perfect. Thanks so much, guys.

Thanks, Colin.

Hi, all. Thanks for taking my questions.

On the project delays, I'm sorry if I missed, but what drove the project sale delays from Q4 into '26? Can you give some additional color also on the impairments that you guys experienced?

Thanks.

I will ask Ismael to address this question, and Xinbo to make any supplement if necessary. Ismael?

Sure. Thank you, Shawn.

Look, there were a couple of projects that delayed mainly due to permitting delays. One of them was already finalized.

The other one is under exclusivity, it should be finalized soon, hopefully. Mainly permitting delays.

Look, the main reasons are twofold. One is change on legislation in some of the countries we play, and many projects that we were developing in early stage, we believe might not making sense anymore, and we stopped putting capital into them with the changes on the regulation.

There were a bunch of them on that part. Some others on which the interconnection costs went through the roof, and we don't see them viable not for us and not for anyone.

We also decided to stop investing on. Those are the two main drivers.

Got it, Ismael. Thanks.

Can you share which countries where you might be down sizing your efforts, either due to legislation or to the interconnection costs? Thanks.

The biggest bulk on solar in US because of the changes on regulation there, and Italy also because of the grid reform, also a little bit in France. Those are the main three, a little bit in Spain also, but not major.

Great. Thanks.

Then, shifting over to the guidance, can you explain a little bit more why the '26 guidance is only focused on the US, although Q1 has global numbers there? Was wondering if you could also share what the US mix for Q1 might be.

Then also what the 2026 CapEx might be. Thanks.

Philip. Again, this is Shawn.

We have already provided the global guidance in November last year. We only added the new guidance for US, which usually we mentioned during the call, but we don't put it in writing.

This time we'll put it on writing for the US guidance. In terms of CapEx, I will let Xinbo to address.

I want to mention that the new CapEx for 2026 is mainly in United States. We have some remaining payment for the capacity in other place, but most of CapEx are in United States.

We also have some new CapEx in Southeast Asia for the energy storage production and the lithium battery energy storage production. Those capacity are mainly prepared for US.

Now, Xinbo, do you have some new numbers to share?

Yes. It's not new numbers, the same as what we guided in last earnings call.

It's around $1.2 billion for this year, the CapEx.

It might be some uncertainties because of, hopefully, the lower tariffs to the US.

Great. Okay.

Thank you, Xinbo and Shawn. One more, if I may.

As it relates to the Section 337 and that investigation, was wondering if you might be able to provide some color on that as well as I think the USPTO recently rejected your attempt to invalidate the First Solar TOPCon patents lawsuits. Just if you can give us some perspective on the IP situation.

Looks like you're focused more on heterojunction, maybe it's not that relevant. Just wanted to touch on this for a bit.

Thanks.

Philip, we have decided to use the heterojunction, HJT technology, for our US domestic solar cell factory a few years ago before the legal challenge from First Solar. We made that decision independently, because we believe we are a master of the HJT technology, and this technology has some very distinguished advantages.

HJT has higher theoretical efficiency limit than the TOPCon solar cell. Second, although both TOPCon and HJT are N-type, for the application on Earth, it's N-type, right.

For the application in the space, some scholars believe P-type HJT has more advantage. Although the TOPCon and HJT are both N-type, HJT does have higher efficiency and also thinner wafers.

It has the potential to go thin wafers, therefore further reduce the cost. Also, it was another advantage of HJT technology which just become more significant recently, which is the low silver use.

When we decided to use HJT for the US factory, the silver cost was not that high 2, 3 years ago. Polysilicon cost is still number one, not like today silver cost all of sudden become number one.

The HJT use the so-called low-temperature process. As you probably know, the highest processing temperature is around 200°C, rather than for N-type TOPCon, which have to go through some 800, 900°C process.

Because it's low temperature, we can potentially use less silver and more copper in the paste. Therefore, it will have very significant savings in terms of silver cost.

Recently, I have called the R&D team in our company to focus on what I call the zero-silver technology. For zero silver, we can see that the HJT will go faster than the TOPCon technology.

Also, HJT is a more automated and equipment-dependent process than operators-dependent, and it's operator per watt capacity is much less than the TOPCon. It will reduce the initial operator training burden for us in US.

That's why we choose HJT. As I said in my remark, we will see the first piece of HJT cells of our lines in Jeffersonville, Indiana, by the end of this month.

Next quarter, we will start the ramp-up process for this Phase 1. I think that what happened today shows that we made the right decision on the technology selection, also showed our depth in the R&D and technology reserve in the company.

Now, turning to the legal patent side, I don't want to comment too much on the legal cases, but I do want to emphasize that USPTO pretty much rejected all the review requests for patents, it's not specific to us, but it's rather a change of their practice. I don't think it will weaken our position in front of the court.

We are firmly believe that our technology is sound and also we have not infringed any of other patents. Now, in terms of 337, it's going to be a approximately a 1-year process or more than 1 year, it's a process in front of ITC.

We'll let the process go. As I said, we are confident on our technology and on our patent determination, but meanwhile, we also have flexibility.

As you see that we have the HJT technology going in US already, and by the end of this year, we will be ramping up the Phase 2. In Q1 next year, you will start to see 6 GW, 6.3 GW of nameplate capacity running in United States.

That will more or less cover large part of our solar cell requirement of our Mesquite solar module factory. As I also said, we increase our nameplate capacity of the solar module factory in Mesquite, Texas, to 10 GW.

For the remaining 3 GW, we will either use TOPCon to supplement or we might use PERC technology. Altogether, I'm confident that what I'm seeing right now is a transition process ongoing, but starting from second half of this year, you will see the result of this transition.

I think we will be a most stable players in the global market, especially in the US market, Phil.

Shawn, thank you very much for the comprehensive answer. I'll pass it on.

Hey, hello and thanks for the questions here. On the HJT expansion and even the module expansion, could you talk about CapEx needs for those and separately on the FEOC side, our compliance with FEOC, could you just touch upon that of the new strategy?

Did you still need the 45X, or how do you plan to address the material assistance or any other rules around the foreign entities of concern language in the OBBBA? Thanks.

This is Shawn. As I also as we said in remark, we we are more or less completed our our restructuring necessary to be compliant to the OBBBA by December.

We formed a new entity, which is called CS PowerTech, for US manufacturing. This is the CS PowerTech and all the subsidiary under it is have has 75.1% ownership from Canadian Solar, and Canadian Solar is headquartered in Kitchener, Ontario, and and Canadian Solar which actually just completed or we just completed have, had our first board meeting of 2026 in Kitchener, Ontario, and we will have the second board meeting in Kitchener, Ontario, very soon by by May.

As you see, the major decision-making and those corporate activities are all in Canada, which make Canadian Solar clear Canadian operating company. Which so with this structure, we believe we are compliant with the with the OBBBA.

In terms of CapEx, most of CapEx happens for 2026 will happen in United States. There are some CapEx spending for the Mesquite factories in the solar module factory.

We mentioned that we are expanded the capacity there from 5 GW to 10 GW. That will add a little bit equipment, but the building is there, most of the facilities are there.

The expanding cost expansion cost is way lower proportional to, compare with the the the historical spending. That's a very I think this is a very efficient expansion.

For the Mesquite solar cell, Phase 1 and Phase 2 altogether, the total CapEx will be over $1 billion US. That's why you see the numbers most of the CapEx numbers for 2026 happened in like in occurred in Jefferson, Jeffersonville, Indiana, for the solar cell Phase 1 and Phase 2.

However, the Phase 1 is pretty much already already there, all the equipment are there. Now we're adding the Phase 2 there.

There are also some CapEx expansion in Southeast Asia for the for the lithium lithium battery energy storage factory. Those are where the expansion and new CapEx are happening this year.

Got it. No, appreciate the clarity there.

Maybe just a follow-up on the manufacturing for the US, any thoughts on what gross margins you're targeting for either the cell or module or the battery manufacturing in the US, and separately, if you could just talk about any orders you have received for the manufacturing for '27 or '28 at this stage in the US factories?

For the US factory, first of all, we typically don't guide the gross margin for future quarter and future years. However, I do share that I can share that for the solar module manufacturing, the typical gross margin, the gross margin demonstrated in previous years in 2025 is more than 20% for the US, manufacturing and US orders.

This year, for this first half of the year, the margin might be a little bit, tight because of the the tight supply of the so-called OBBBA-compliant solar cell supply, as I mentioned in my call, and also because we are waiting for our Jeffersonville solar cell factory to contribute for the second part of the year. That tight supply caused a little bit reduced the volume in US, also as we guided, and also a little bit high price for the, solar cell supply to the US.

However, I think this is purely transitional. As I when I addressed the one of previous question, I said that the US market seems to be able to respond to the cost increase when we told tell our customer that the cost increase because of the silver, and also because of the tight supply of the OBBBA-compliant solar cells, and our customers are willing to, most of our customer are willing to shoulder some of this cost.

I also want to mention that from now on, looks like we will see less tariff impact on the cost. I don't know how long it will last, but I do know that for at least in Q2, we will see the benefit of lower lower tariff.

Moving into second half and moving to next year, when we start to switch more and more into our domestic manufactured solar cell, the tariff will become a a small question. To repeat, historically we do see over 20% gross margin for US solar manufacturing.

Now, for the energy battery, we did say that we are targeting like 20% or higher gross margin for global shipment, including US and non-US. Now Colin, do you want to do you have additional comment on on this topic?

Colin? It's okay.

I think we can move on

to Maybe nothing else on that, but quick clarification, just on the 25 to 30 GW of shipments you previously guided for '26, that still applies or that's something you will guide later or revise that later?

Can you repeat I I I Repeat your question.

No, sure. The previously guided 25 to 30 GW of solar shipments for 2026, right?

Does that still hold, or that's something you'll revise in coming quarters?

We didn't provide any new guidance this year. However, as we see at this point, we think the volume target for 2026 is not our priority, but rather the profit is our priority.

This is due to, number one, the increase of cost of the solar cell. Number two, you'll see that our total volume in US will go down a little bit compared with last year, but it's more due to the supply chain issue, before we bounce back next year for the US shipment.

The current conflict in Middle East will also, I think, impact the market, especially the demand from the Middle East. It hasn't materialized yet, but we do expect some turbulence there.

For the volume, the megawatt volume of solar, we think it's getting challenging, and we are not focusing on that for this year. However, we are still early.

We're still in March. I have been in the solar industry for 30 years, and Canadian Solar has been operating for 25 years, we do see in turbulence years, sometimes the volume can switch off and on very fast.

We will provide the annual global guidance on volumes in later quarters when we have more clarity.

Thank you for that.

Thank you for taking my question. Congratulations on winning a major order's relation to data center for energy storage.

Would like to know so how does that project work like? Do you sell power to the utility company, which in turns where it is supplying the power to a data center, and do you know how big is the load for the data center?

Oh, I think you are asking the question about our new press release, right, on the 2.5 GWh order. Now, Colin is the President for Canadian Solar as well as our subsidiary, e-STORAGE.

Colin, do you want to comment on this question?

Sure. Thanks, Alan, for your question.

That particular project, although we can't name the customer, is for a major US utility, and it is part of their strategy to build out power supply for a major hyperscale investment. That is a front-of-the-meter solution, and what we're seeing right now is much of the utility and infrastructure is being formed around the additional power demands for data centers front of the meter.

We're also seeing trends for behind-the-meter and direct connected data centers, which this is not the case. This is an infrastructure support project.

We do expect to see the trend moving towards more behind-the-meter total power solutions for data centers, which is why we mentioned in our commentary earlier that we are focusing on providing total power solutions to address both front-of-the-meter and direct behind-the-meter connections for data centers. Part of that is understanding the modeling and the requirements for the data centers, particular application, load flow requirements, and response requirements, which are very stringent, and testing those requirements in advance, doing hardware-in-the-loop testing and configuring our total solutions to support the complex needs for data centers.

As I mentioned, we're seeing both front-of-the-meter and behind-the-meter, but this particular one is a front-of-the-meter, and we'll see more of that as well. Did that answer your question, Alan?

That is clear. Just a quick follow-up on that, for the behind-the-meter discussion ongoing, you mentioned about a total power solution.

Does it mean that you also have to consider the quick connection requirement to stabilize the load requirement from the data center during part of the day from the grid? Is it part of the package on top of powering the data center?

That's right. That's part of the total solution that we're looking at.

In some cases, auxiliary equipment, power supply equipment, and even potentially generation equipment completes the total power solution. We can do some or part of that with partners, but we're looking at the data center opportunities in a much more holistic power solution approach.

We think that's part of the value that we'll be adding as we look forward to participating in the AIDC markets. I think you'll see more coming from us in terms of our advancement of technologies beyond just the known capabilities that we have with our battery technology.

The other thing that I think we've mentioned earlier is we're focusing on how to bring that additional value to our customer in terms of executing projects, servicing, and supporting the equipment with long-term performance and guarantees to meet the specific requirements for data centers.

Thank you. Thank you,

Alan.

All right, and thank you for joining us today and also for your continued support. If you have any questions or would like to set up a call, please contact our investor relations team.

Take care, and have a great day.