---
title: "Canadian Solar vs Centro Energy - Brand Comparison | ComparePV"
description: "Compare Canadian Solar vs Centro Energy solar panels: full portfolio, efficiency, cell technology breakdown, warranty terms and company background."
source: "https://comparepv.com/canadian-solar-vs-centro-energy"
---

# Canadian Solar vs Centro Energy

Canadian Solar has the broader catalog (292 vs 13 models). Canadian Solar leads on peak efficiency at 24.40%. Canadian Solar leans bifacial (46% of lineup).


## The two companies


| Attribute | Canadian Solar | Centro Energy |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Country | Canada |  |
| Headquarters | Kitchener |  |
| Founded | 2001 |  |
| Employees | 17,113 |  |
| Annual capacity | 51 GW/year |  |
| Tier 1 | yes | no |
| Listed | NASDAQ: CSIQ |  |
| Website | [https://www.canadiansolar.com](https://www.canadiansolar.com) |  |

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.


## Catalog & Power


| Measure | Canadian Solar | Centro Energy | Margin |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Panel Models | 292 | 13 | +279 |
| Max Power | 730 W | 670 W | +60 W |
| Avg Power | 472 W | 498 W | +27 W |


## Efficiency


| Measure | Canadian Solar | Centro Energy | Margin |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Max Efficiency | 24.40% | 21.57% | +2.83 pp |
| Avg Efficiency | 20.66% | 20.80% | +0.15 pp |


## Reliability & Warranty


| Measure | Canadian Solar | Centro Energy | Margin |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Avg Temp Coefficient | -0.331%/°C | -0.404%/°C | +0.073 |
| Bifacial Share | 133 (46%) | 0 (0%) | +46 pp |
| Avg Warranty | 28.2 yrs | 26.9 yrs | +1.3 yr |


## Efficiency distribution

Canadian Solar skews to higher efficiency: 13% of lineup is 23%+


| Efficiency band | Canadian Solar | Centro Energy |
| --- | --- | --- |
| \<20% | 128 (43.8%) | 2 (15.4%) |
| 20-21% | 36 (12.3%) | 5 (38.5%) |
| 21-22% | 41 (14.0%) | 6 (46.2%) |
| 22-23% | 50 (17.1%) | 0 |
| 23%+ | 37 (12.7%) | 0 |


## Power distribution

Centro Energy offers more 600W+ panels (38% of lineup)


| Power band | Canadian Solar | Centro Energy |
| --- | --- | --- |
| \<400W | 104 (35.6%) | 3 (23.1%) |
| 400-499W | 72 (24.7%) | 0 |
| 500-599W | 45 (15.4%) | 5 (38.5%) |
| 600-699W | 64 (21.9%) | 5 (38.5%) |
| 700W+ | 7 (2.4%) | 0 |


## Cell technology

Dominant cell tech: **PERC** (67%)

Dominant cell tech: **PERC** (100%)


| Technology | Canadian Solar | Centro Energy |
| --- | --- | --- |
| PERC | 195 (66.8%) | 13 (100.0%) |
| TOPCon | 85 (29.1%) | 0 |
| HJT | 12 (4.1%) | 0 |


## Top panels, Canadian Solar


| # | Model | Power | Efficiency | Temp. coefficient | Technology |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | [CS7N-730TB-AG](https://comparepv.com/panel/csi-solar-co-ltd-canadian-solar-cs7n-730tb-ag) | 730 | 23.5 | -0.290 | Monocrystalline |
| 2 | [CS7N-725TB-AG](https://comparepv.com/panel/csi-solar-co-ltd-canadian-solar-cs7n-725tb-ag) | 725 | 23.3 | -0.290 | Monocrystalline |
| 3 | [CS7N-720TB-AG](https://comparepv.com/panel/csi-solar-co-ltd-canadian-solar-cs7n-720tb-ag) | 720 | 23.2 | -0.290 | Monocrystalline |
| 4 | [CS7N-715TB-AG](https://comparepv.com/panel/csi-solar-co-ltd-canadian-solar-cs7n-715tb-ag) | 715 | 23.0 | -0.290 | Monocrystalline |
| 5 | [CS7N-710TB-AG](https://comparepv.com/panel/csi-solar-co-ltd-canadian-solar-cs7n-710tb-ag) | 710 | 22.9 | -0.290 | Monocrystalline |
| 6 | [CS7N-705TB-AG](https://comparepv.com/panel/csi-solar-co-ltd-canadian-solar-cs7n-705tb-ag) | 705 | 22.7 | -0.290 | Monocrystalline |
| 7 | [CS7N-700TB-AG](https://comparepv.com/panel/csi-solar-co-ltd-canadian-solar-cs7n-700tb-ag) | 700 | 22.5 | -0.290 | Monocrystalline |
| 8 | [CS7N-695TB-AG](https://comparepv.com/panel/csi-solar-co-ltd-canadian-solar-cs7n-695tb-ag) | 695 | 22.4 | -0.290 | Monocrystalline |
| 9 | [CS7N-690TB-AG](https://comparepv.com/panel/csi-solar-co-ltd-canadian-solar-cs7n-690tb-ag) | 690 | 22.2 | -0.290 | Monocrystalline |
| 10 | [CS7N-675MS](https://comparepv.com/panel/csi-solar-co-ltd-canadian-solar-cs7n-675ms) | 675 | 21.7 | -0.340 | Monocrystalline |


## Top panels, Centro Energy


| # | Model | Power | Efficiency | Temp. coefficient | Technology |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | [CE-670M](https://comparepv.com/panel/centro-energy-ce-670m) | 670 | 21.6 | -0.400 | Monocrystalline |
| 2 | [CE-665M](https://comparepv.com/panel/centro-energy-ce-665m) | 665 | 21.4 | -0.400 | Monocrystalline |
| 3 | [CE-660M](https://comparepv.com/panel/centro-energy-ce-660m) | 660 | 21.2 | -0.400 | Monocrystalline |
| 4 | [CE-655M](https://comparepv.com/panel/centro-energy-ce-655m) | 655 | 21.1 | -0.400 | Monocrystalline |
| 5 | [CE-650M](https://comparepv.com/panel/centro-energy-ce-650m) | 650 | 20.9 | -0.400 | Monocrystalline |
| 6 | [CE-550HM](https://comparepv.com/panel/centro-energy-ce-550hm) | 550 | 21.3 | -0.350 | Monocrystalline |
| 7 | [CE-545HM](https://comparepv.com/panel/centro-energy-ce-545hm) | 545 | 21.1 | -0.350 | Monocrystalline |
| 8 | [CE-540HM](https://comparepv.com/panel/centro-energy-ce-540hm) | 540 | 20.9 | -0.350 | Monocrystalline |
| 9 | [CE-535HM](https://comparepv.com/panel/centro-energy-ce-535hm) | 535 | 20.7 | -0.350 | Monocrystalline |
| 10 | [CE-530HM](https://comparepv.com/panel/centro-energy-ce-530hm) | 530 | 20.5 | -0.350 | Monocrystalline |


## Summary

Canadian Solar is a Canadian manufacturer founded in 1997, publicly listed on Nasdaq and headquartered in Ontario, with total production capacity of roughly 61 GW as of Q4 2025 and CSI Solar module capacity targeted at 51-56 GW through 2025-2026. It has held Tier 1 status on BloombergNEF's list continuously since 2016 and was also named to S&P Global Commodity Insights' inaugural 2025 Tier 1 Cleantech Companies list, underscoring strong bankability for project financing. Centro Energy is a much smaller Chinese manufacturer based in Wuxi, Jiangsu province, with roughly 800 MW of cell capacity and around 1 GW of module capacity in China plus an additional production line in Vietnam - a scale that is orders of magnitude smaller than Canadian Solar, and available sources do not confirm any Tier 1 BloombergNEF listing for the brand, making Canadian Solar the clearly stronger institutional player.

Canadian Solar's lineup spans the HiKu6 (PERC) and TOPHiKu6 (TOPCon) series for residential rooftops, the high-efficiency HiHero line built on HJT cells reaching around 22.5% module efficiency, and bifacial TOPBiHiKu6/7 modules aimed at commercial and utility-scale ground-mount projects, with power ratings up to 705W in the 210mm cell format. Centro Energy offers a narrower, more basic portfolio of around 13 panel models ranging from 100W to 670W, averaging about 20.8% efficiency (up to 21.6% on top models) with a standard 25-year, 80%-output power warranty, but limited bifacial options and minimal adoption of newer TOPCon or HJT cell technology, positioning it more toward smaller residential installations than large commercial deployments.

For a typical buyer, whether a homeowner or a developer sourcing for commercial and utility-scale projects, Canadian Solar is the safer default given its confirmed bankability, broader technology range, and easier access to project financing. Centro Energy can be a reasonable lower-cost option for smaller, budget-conscious residential installs, but without confirmed Tier 1 status and at a fraction of the production scale, it is harder to match on long-term supply stability and after-sales support guarantees.

Written by claude-sonnet-5 from the figures above.


## Other comparisons

- [Canadian Solar vs A.B. Energy](https://comparepv.com/canadian-solar-vs-a-b-energy)
- [AE Solar vs Centro Energy](https://comparepv.com/ae-solar-vs-centro-energy)
- [Canadian Solar vs AEET](https://comparepv.com/canadian-solar-vs-aeet)
- [AIKO vs Centro Energy](https://comparepv.com/aiko-vs-centro-energy)
- [Canadian Solar vs AKCOME](https://comparepv.com/canadian-solar-vs-akcome)
- [ARTsolar vs Centro Energy](https://comparepv.com/artsolar-vs-centro-energy)


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Source: https://comparepv.com/canadian-solar-vs-centro-energy

Not in this file, on the page: the distributions above drawn as charts.