Canadian Solar To Build 122 MW Of Project In the U.S.

China-based Canadian Solar (CSIQ :NYSE) is starting to act more like U.S.-based First Solar (FSLR :NASDAQ) as they have invested in 122 megawatts (MW) of small, utility-scale projects that will be built domestically.

The 11 projects, ranging from 2 MW to 29 MW in size, are scheduled to begin production this year. The final project should be completed in 2014.

Building these projects is part of Canadian Solar’s strategy to move away from pure module sales in the United States to collaborating with utility-scale solar project developers, a strategy that First Solar has employed.

Shares of Canadian Solar were up 3.02 percent in afternoon trading while First Solar shares were up 4.91 percent.