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SUMMARY OF PRINCIPAL ACCOUNTING POLICIES (Details 4) (USD $) | 12 Months Ended
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Dec. 31, 2014 | Dec. 31, 2013 | Dec. 31, 2012
Investments in affiliates |  |  |
Impairment charges on investments | $ 0 us-gaap_ImpairmentOfInvestments | $ 0 us-gaap_ImpairmentOfInvestments | $ 1,100,000 us-gaap_ImpairmentOfInvestments
Impairment of long-lived assets |  |  |
Impairment charges for property, plant and equipment | 1,572,635 us-gaap_AssetImpairmentCharges | 3,664,556 us-gaap_AssetImpairmentCharges | 0 us-gaap_AssetImpairmentCharges
Revenue recognition |  |  |
Revenue recognized using the full accrue method | 754,200,000 csiq_RevenueRecognizedUnderAccrualMethod |  |
Revenue recognized using the percentage of completion method | 137,700,000 csiq_RevenueRecognizedUnderPercentageOfCompletionMethod |  |
Inventories relating to unrecognized revenue for solar power products | 7,500,000 csiq_InventoryRelatingToNonRecognizedRevenue | 8,200,000 csiq_InventoryRelatingToNonRecognizedRevenue | 18,400,000 csiq_InventoryRelatingToNonRecognizedRevenue
Recognized government subsidy of electricity revenues | 1,979,214 csiq_GovernmentSubsidyOfElectricityRevenueRecognized |  |
Shipping and handling costs |  |  |
Shipping and handling costs relating to sales | 55,671,167 us-gaap_ShippingHandlingAndTransportationCosts | 33,937,727 us-gaap_ShippingHandlingAndTransportationCosts | 41,902,327 us-gaap_ShippingHandlingAndTransportationCosts
Research and development |  |  |
Research and development expenses | 12,056,951 us-gaap_ResearchAndDevelopmentExpense | 11,684,993 us-gaap_ResearchAndDevelopmentExpense | 12,998,122 us-gaap_ResearchAndDevelopmentExpense
Advertising expenses |  |  |
Advertising expenses | 6,581,392 us-gaap_AdvertisingExpense | 4,669,237 us-gaap_AdvertisingExpense | 11,874,452 us-gaap_AdvertisingExpense
Minimum |  |  |
Revenue recognition |  |  |
Construction period | 6 months |  |
Maximum |  |  |
Revenue recognition |  |  |
Construction period | 1 year |  |
Toll manufacturing arrangements |  |  |
Revenue recognition |  |  |
Finished goods sold | $ 16,577,901 us-gaap_SalesRevenueGoodsNet / us-gaap_TypeOfArrangementAxis = csiq_TollManufacturingArrangementsMember | $ 13,952,550 us-gaap_SalesRevenueGoodsNet / us-gaap_TypeOfArrangementAxis = csiq_TollManufacturingArrangementsMember | $ 7,911,733 us-gaap_SalesRevenueGoodsNet / us-gaap_TypeOfArrangementAxis = csiq_TollManufacturingArrangementsMember

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- Definition Amount charged to advertising expense for the period, which are expenses incurred with the objective of increasing revenue for a specified brand, product or product line. + References Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 720 -SubTopic 35 -Section 50 -Paragraph 1 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6420018&loc=d3e36677-107848 + Details
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- Definition The aggregate costs incurred (1) in a planned search or critical investigation aimed at discovery of new knowledge with the hope that such knowledge will be useful in developing a new product or service, a new process or technique, or in bringing about a significant improvement to an existing product or process; or (2) to translate research findings or other knowledge into a plan or design for a new product or process or for a significant improvement to an existing product or process whether intended for sale or the entity's use, during the reporting period charged to research and development projects, including the costs of developing computer software up to the point in time of achieving technological feasibility, and costs allocated in accounting for a business combination to in-process projects deemed to have no alternative future use. + References Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 985 -SubTopic 20 -Section 50 -Paragraph 1 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6501960&loc=d3e128462-111756 Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 730 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 1 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6420194&loc=d3e21568-108373 + Details
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