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

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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.

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Amount of write-down of assets recognized in the income statement. Includes, but is not limited to, losses from tangible assets, intangible assets and goodwill.

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The amount by which the fair value of an investment is less than the amortized cost basis or carrying amount of that investment at the balance sheet date and the decline in fair value is deemed to be other than temporary, before considering whether or not such amount is recognized in earnings or other comprehensive income.

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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.

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Aggregate revenue during the period from the sale of goods in the normal course of business, after deducting returns, allowances and discounts.

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