Canadian Solar announced its entrance into the Indian solar market earlier this week with a deal to ship 33 megawatts of modules to Cirus Solar in the third and fourth quarters of 2011.

“This is our first sale to India,” said Ed Job, chief financial officer of Canadian Solar.

He said the company is pursuing a deeper relationship with India, which is expected to be one of the world leaders in solar energy development over the next decade.

Canadian Solar will be shipping its 60-cell CS6P modules to Cirus for use in three ground-mounted utility-scale solar installations, including one large 20-megawatt system, a smaller 8-megwatt and another 5-megawatt installation.

Cirus, based in Hyderabad, addresses both off-grid and utility scale solar power projects worldwide, according to a release from Canadian Solar.

Cirus has strong corporate backing from Hyderabad based Indu Group, which has its own expertise in setting up conventional power projects and infrastructure developments combined with a very solid balance sheet.

"We are very pleased to initiate a business relationship with Cirus Solar Systems to participate in the development of the solar energy market in India,” Dr. Shawn Qu, Canadian Solar's Chairman and CEO, was quoted in the release. “We believe India has the potential to become one of the largest solar markets in the world, and we expect it will make a meaningful contribution to the growth of our business in the quarters ahead."

Several recent studies and surveys have shown that India has the potential to grow one of the largest solar power networks in the world. It’s position as the second-most populous region in the world and one of the least developed make it a prime location for renewable energy development.

The rising costs of energy globally make renewables like solar an obvious solution to power needs in a growing, modernizing and advancing region like India.

Canadian Solar, which manufacturers fully integrated turnkey solar systems, is positioned to supply India with solar modules to help the country develop its renewable energy future.

Job said the company, which has a presence in North America, Europe and Asia, aims to develop its role in India.

“We are actively negotiating new sales to the Indian market,” Job said.

Image courtesy of Solar Thermal Magazine.