Multinational solar manufacturer Canadian Solar has made several moves in its executive leadership team, appointing Colin Parkin to its board of directors and the company’s presidency to replace Dr Shawn Qu, who will remain as the company’s chairman and CEO.
Parkin started work in his new position immediately upon the announcement of the transition last week, and has worked at Canadian Solar for 20 years, serving as president of the company’s subsidiary e-STORAGE prior to his appointment to the Canadian Solar board of directors. He also served as vice president of Recurrent Energy, Canadian Solar’s project development subsidiary.
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The appointment follows a downturn in the financial performance of the company’s solar sector, but improvements for its storage component. In the third quarter of 2025, Canadian Solar’s module shipments fell by almost 3GW quarter-on-quarter, but its battery energy storage system (BESS) sales reached a record 2.7GWh, demonstrating the increasingly integral role of storage systems in the solar industry.
The company also announced that Dylan Marx has been appointed to the position of chief operating officer, following 13 years at Canadian Solar that saw him serve as corporate vice president of operations and president of operations and maintenance (O&M) for Recurrent Energy.
“Colin has played a critical role in building e-STORAGE into a global energy storage leader,” said Qu, who will focus on “long-term strategy and technology innovation” as company chair and CEO.
“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.”
Canadian Solar also noted that it would “expand its investments and manufacturing operations in North America”, following a decision last month to assume direct control of its US solar PV and energy storage manufacturing operations.
This comes as the US looks to incentivise domestic production of energy products and crack down on imports from overseas, particularly China, which is the focus of the recent foreign entity of concern (FEOC) legislation. While Canadian Solar is headquartered in Canada and listed on the NASDAQ exchange, it has a large operational presence in China, and the latest US policies would threaten a supply chain that relies on moving products from China to the US.
