Canadian Solar vs Hiwatt Solar - solar panel manufacturer comparison
Canadian Solar has the broader catalog (292 vs 109 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
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> (67%)
Dominant cell tech: <strong>PERC</strong> (46%)
The flagships
Written summary
Canadian Solar is a Canadian-headquartered, Nasdaq-listed manufacturer founded in 2001, with global manufacturing spread across China, Southeast Asia and the Americas and an annual production capacity of roughly 61 GW. It appears on S&P Global Commodity Insights' 2025 Tier 1 Cleantech Companies list for both PV modules and battery energy storage, reflecting a long track record of bank-financed project deliveries. Hiwatt Solar, by contrast, is a much smaller Chinese manufacturer based in Guangdong province, founded in 2009, with module production capacity around 2.2 GW per year; available sources do not confirm any BloombergNEF or S&P Tier 1 listing for the brand. On institutional footprint and scale, Canadian Solar is clearly the stronger of the two.
Canadian Solar's product range spans the HiKu series (PERC modules for residential and small-scale rooftops), the TOPHiKu and bifacial TOPBiHiKu lines built on N-type TOPCon cells for commercial and utility-scale ground-mount projects, and the HJT-based HiHero line reaching efficiencies above 24 percent. Hiwatt Solar's catalog centers on 210mm-cell modules, including double-glass bifacial panels rated up to roughly 670 W and above, generally aimed at export markets and smaller installers rather than large utility developers, and independent field testing or third-party reviews for the brand remain limited compared to Canadian Solar.
For a typical international buyer - whether a residential installer or a commercial/utility developer - Canadian Solar is the safer default given its documented bankability, longer market history and broader Tier 1-grade warranty backing. Hiwatt Solar may suit price-sensitive projects that do not require bank financing, but the two brands are not institutionally interchangeable, and buyers should weigh that gap before treating Hiwatt as a like-for-like substitute.
Generated by Claude Sonnet 5 · 2026-08-10
Other brand comparisons
Shop prices: See 39 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.