GUELPH, Ont. -- Canadian Solar Inc. of Guelph, Ont., has received a non-binding takeover offer from its chairman, Shawn (Xiaohua) Qu, who is also the company's CEO and president.

Qu is tentatively offering US$18.47 in cash for each share not already owned by him and his wife.

That's about seven per cent above Friday's closing price of US$17.25 on Nasdaq, when Canadian Solar was worth about US$1 billion.

Founded in 2001, Canadian Solar is one of the world's largest solar power equipment manufacturers and solar utility developers.