Canadian Solar vs New East Solar - solar panel manufacturer comparison
Canadian Solar has the broader catalog (292 vs 30 models). Canadian Solar leads on peak efficiency at 24.40%. New East Solar leans bifacial (67% 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
New East Solar Energy (NE Solar) is a Cambodia-based solar cell and module manufacturer specializing in high-efficiency Mono and Poly PERC solar cells and modules. The company operates manufacturing facilities in Cambodia, Indonesia, and a new 2 GW factory in Phoenix, Arizona, USA. NE Solar holds a BNEF Tier 1...
- Headquarters
- Phnom Penh, Cambodia
- Annual capacity
- 5-10 GW/year
- Employees
- 201-500
- 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%+
New East Solar offers more 600W+ panels (33% of lineup)
Dominant cell tech: <strong>PERC</strong> (67%)
Dominant cell tech: <strong>TOPCon</strong> (67%)
The flagships
Written summary
Canadian Solar is a Canadian-headquartered manufacturer, publicly listed on NASDAQ since 2006, with module manufacturing capacity planned above 51 GW for 2025 and a long-standing Tier 1 bankability record, most recently reaffirmed by its inclusion on the S&P Global Premier List of Tier 1 Cleantech Companies. New East Solar, also branded NE Solar, is a much smaller Cambodia-based manufacturer with production in Batam, Indonesia and an expanding facility in Phoenix, Arizona, totaling roughly 9 GW of capacity, and it only achieved BloombergNEF Tier 1 status in August 2024. On institutional footprint and track record, Canadian Solar is clearly the more established name.
Canadian Solar's portfolio spans monofacial PERC modules for residential rooftops (HiKu series), bifacial and monofacial TOPCon modules (TOPBiHiKu and TOPHiKu) built for utility-scale and commercial projects, and premium high-efficiency HJT panels under the HiHero line. New East Solar's lineup is narrower, centered on mono PERC, bifacial and poly modules aimed primarily at commercial and utility-scale buyers, with its U.S. manufacturing push targeting domestic-content requirements for large projects.
For a typical international buyer, Canadian Solar remains the safer default given its longer operating history, wider service and warranty infrastructure, and earlier-established bankability. New East Solar can be a reasonable value option for utility-scale procurement, especially where U.S.-made content matters, but buyers should vet the local distributor and warranty terms more carefully given its shorter Tier 1 track record.
Generated by Claude Sonnet 5 · 2026-09-19
Other brand comparisons
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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.