Canadian Solar has appointed long-time executive Colin Parkin as President, with founder Shawn Qu continuing as Chairman and CEO
The leadership change is aimed at supporting the company’s next growth phase, including expanded manufacturing and investments in North America, stated the management
Also, Dylan Marx has been named the COO, as the group lays strong focus on operations
Canadian Solar has reshuffled its executive leadership team, appointing a company long-timer, Colin Parkin, as President. Parkin takes over the role from the Group Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Shawn Qu.
The company management explains that with this transition, Qu will be able to focus on long-term strategy and technology innovation as the group expands investments and manufacturing operations across North America (see Canadian Solar Strategy: Direct Oversight Of US Operations).
Parkin has also joined the company board as a member, succeeding Yan Zhuang. Parkin held various roles at Canadian Solar in his 2-decade-long career at the company, including Vice President of Recurrent Energy and, most recently, as the President of the group subsidiary e-STORAGE that operates in the utility-scale energy storage manufacturing and service space.
Before joining Canadian Solar, Parkin founded Integrated Manufacturing Technologies (IMT) and held roles at Photowatt International and Automation Tooling Systems (ATS).
In another leadership change, the management has appointed the Corporate Vice President of Operations and President of Operations and Maintenance (O&M) for Recurrent Energy, Dylan Marx, as the Chief Operating Officer (COO). Previously, Marx also worked with ATS Automation and BlackBerry before joining Canadian Solar in 2013.
“As we approach our 25th anniversary in 2026, Canadian Solar enters a pivotal period in its evolution,” said Shawn Qu. “Colin has played a critical role in building e-STORAGE into a global energy storage leader. Together, with their deep institutional knowledge and leadership, Colin and Dylan will help chart and execute Canadian Solar's next phase of growth and drive long-term value.”
As of December 31, 2025, Canadian Solar’s annual nameplate solar module production capacity was 51 GW, 15 GWh for battery energy storage systems (BESS), and 3 GWh for battery cells, according to the company’s November 2025 investor presentation. Having been a leading solar module manufacturer, the group now also sees strong potential in the BESS space.
Recently, speaking at the TaiyangNews Inverters & Battery Storage Conference on December 16, 2025, Andrea Praticò, Director of Sales Europe at Canadian Solar, presented the company’s EP Cube as an all-in-one energy storage solution for residential and C&I applications (see Inverters And Battery Storage Drive Smarter Solar Systems).
