Amerisolar vs Canadian Solar - solar panel manufacturer comparison
Canadian Solar has the broader catalog (292 vs 27 models). Canadian Solar leads on peak efficiency at 24.40%. Canadian Solar leans bifacial (46% of lineup).
Both catalogues are read from the manufacturers' own datasheets. A brand is not scored against the market here, only against the other brand on this page.
The two companies
Amerisolar, operating under Worldwide Energy and Manufacturing Group, is a professional solar PV module manufacturer with over 30 years of experience in production and quality control. The company operates manufacturing facilities across China, the USA, Vietnam, South Korea, and other countries, and serves markets...
- Founded
- 1993
- Headquarters
- Shanghai, China
- Annual capacity
- 9 GW/year
Canadian Solar Inc. is a global renewable energy company founded in 2001. Headquartered in Kitchener, Ontario, it manufactures solar PV modules and provides battery energy storage solutions. The company also develops utility-scale solar power and battery energy storage projects.
- Founded
- 2001
- Headquarters
- Kitchener, Canada
- Annual capacity
- 51 GW/year
- Employees
- 17,113
- Listed
- NASDAQ: CSIQ
- Tier 1 bankable
- Yes
Catalogue against catalogue
An average over a catalogue describes the range a manufacturer publishes, not the module you would buy. A brand with two flagship panels and eighty older ones averages worse than one that has retired its back catalogue.
What each of them builds
Canadian Solar skews to higher efficiency: 13% of lineup is 23%+
Canadian Solar offers more 600W+ panels (24% of lineup)
Dominant cell tech: <strong>PERC</strong> (74%)
Dominant cell tech: <strong>PERC</strong> (67%)
The flagships
Written summary
Amerisolar operates under the Worldwide Energy and Manufacturing group, with roots dating back to the 1990s and a headquarters presence declared in South San Francisco, though much of its manufacturing and corporate footprint is tied to China, Taiwan and other Asian partners. The brand is sometimes described as meeting Tier 1 criteria, but that status reflects BloombergNEF's bankability list rather than a judgment of module quality, and its production scale (roughly in the low single-digit GW per year range) is markedly smaller than that of the industry's biggest players. Canadian Solar, founded in 2001 by Shawn Qu in Guelph, Ontario, and Nasdaq-listed since 2006, is one of the world's largest module makers, with annual manufacturing capacity in the tens of GW and a consistent place on BloombergNEF's Tier 1 list, giving it a substantially stronger institutional and financial footprint than Amerisolar.
Amerisolar's catalog leans heavily on monocrystalline PERC cells, supplemented by newer TOPCon models, with power ratings roughly between 430 and 665 W, aimed mainly at residential and small commercial rooftop projects. Canadian Solar fields a broader and more technically diverse lineup, including TOPCon series such as TOPBiHiKu6 and high-bifaciality HJT modules under its HiHero range, serving residential and commercial rooftops as well as utility-scale ground-mount projects backed by an extensive project track record.
For a typical rooftop buyer, the two brands can look similar on paper in terms of basic panel specifications, but Canadian Solar's larger balance sheet, longer track record in Western markets, and broader warranty and service infrastructure make it the safer default choice, particularly for bank-financed or higher-value installations. Amerisolar can be a reasonable budget-oriented option for smaller residential systems, provided the buyer accepts the manufacturer's smaller scale and pays attention to warranty and claims-handling terms before purchase.
Generated by Claude Sonnet 5 · 2026-09-21
Other brand comparisons
Shop prices: See 3 Amerisolar offers · See 40 Canadian Solar offers
Comparisons are computed from manufacturer datasheets held in the ComparePV database and may not reflect a brand's complete current lineup. Nothing on this page is paid placement.