Represents the information pertaining to common shares exercised

No definition available.

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The percentage of ownership of common stock or equity participation in the investee accounted for under the cost method of accounting.

+ References

No definition available.

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- Definition

Represents the number of board members.

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No definition available.

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Represents the number of board members designated by the acquired entity.

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No definition available.

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Total number of common shares of an entity that have been sold or granted to shareholders (includes common shares that were issued, repurchased and remain in the treasury). These shares represent capital invested by the firm's shareholders and owners, and may be all or only a portion of the number of shares authorized. Shares issued include shares outstanding and shares held in the treasury.

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- Definition

The percentage of ownership of common stock or equity participation in the investee accounted for under the equity method of accounting.

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- Definition

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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- Definition

This item represents the entity's proportionate share for the period of the net income (loss) of its investee (such as unconsolidated subsidiaries and joint ventures) to which the equity method of accounting is applied. This item includes income or expense related to stock-based compensation based on the investor's grant of stock to employees of an equity method investee.

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The cash outflow associated with the purchase of or advances to an equity method investments, which are investments in joint ventures and entities in which the entity has an equity ownership interest normally of 20 to 50 percent and exercises significant influence.

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- Definition

The cash outflow associated with the investment in or advances to an entity in which the reporting entity shares control of the entity with another party or group.

+ References

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- Definition

Percentage of subsidiary's or equity investee's stock owned by parent company after stock transaction.

+ References

No definition available.

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Line items represent financial concepts included in a table. These concepts are used to disclose reportable information associated with domain members defined in one or many axes to the table.

+ References

No definition available.

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Price of a single share of a number of saleable stocks of a company.

+ References

No definition available.

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INVESTMENTS IN AFFILIATES - Other investments (Details)			1 Months Ended	12 Months Ended
INVESTMENTS IN AFFILIATES - Other investments (Details)	Oct. 04, 2018 USD ($)	Sep. 08, 2015 USD ($) item	Sep. 30, 2018 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2018 USD ($) item shares	Dec. 31, 2017 USD ($) shares	Dec. 31, 2016 USD ($)	Sep. 05, 2018 ¥ / shares shares	Nov. 22, 2017 shares	Oct. 26, 2017 ¥ / shares shares
Other investments
Cash consideration for acquisition of the entity \| $				$ 11,036,000	$ 92,925,000	$ 124,737,000
Common shares issued				59,180,624	58,496,685
Equity in earnings (loss) of unconsolidated investees \| $				$ 5,908,000	$ 9,411,000	(4,404,000)
Impairment loss of investment \| $				$ 5,738,000	$ 3,686,000	$ 0
Canadian Solar Inc
Other investments
Common shares issued				33,895
Initial private investment \| Canadian Solar Inc
Other investments
Common shares issued				1,500
Over allotment
Other investments
Common shares issued							7,000	2,890
Common shares exercised \| $	$ 2,333
Suzhou Financial Leasing Co., Ltd.
Other investments
Ownership percentage				6.00%	6.00%
Tranquillity
Other investments
Ownership percentage					49.00%
Roserock
Other investments
Ownership percentage				49.00%	49.00%
Garland
Other investments
Ownership percentage					49.00%
Pirapora Solar Holding S.A.
Other investments
Ownership percentage					20.00%
eNow Inc
Other investments
Ownership percentage			10.00%
Impairment loss of investment \| $			$ 700,000
SZSP \| Suzhou Financial Leasing Co., Ltd.
Other investments
Number of board members designated by the acquired entity \| item		1
Number of board members \| item		5
Cash consideration for acquisition of the interest \| $		$ 13,860,000
Voting interest hold (as a percent)		6.00%
Canadian Solar Infrastructure Fund, Inc
Other investments
Number of board members designated by the acquired entity \| item				1
Number of board members \| item				3
Common shares issued				231,190
Canadian Solar Infrastructure Fund, Inc \| Canadian Solar Inc
Other investments
Percentage of ownership after sale transaction				14.66%
Canadian Solar Infrastructure Fund, Inc \| Initial public offer
Other investments
Common shares issued							46,667		177,800
Share Price \| ¥ / shares							¥ 102,180		¥ 100,000
Canadian Solar Infrastructure Fund, Inc \| Initial public offer \| Canadian Solar Inc
Other investments
Common shares issued									25,395