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Canadian Solar vs VSUN - solar panel manufacturer comparison

Canadian Solar
Canada Founded 2001 Tier 1
Read the Canadian Solar review
VS
VSUN
Germany Founded 2012
Read the VSUN review
At a glance

Canadian Solar has the broader catalog (292 vs 111 models). Canadian Solar leads on peak efficiency at 24.40%. VSUN leans bifacial (75% 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.

Panel models
292 111
Highest power
730 Wp 715 Wp
Best efficiency
24.4% 23.1%
Average efficiency
20.7% 21.7%
Bifacial share
46% 75%
Average warranty
28 yrs 30 yrs
01

The two companies

Company facts, not datasheet figures
Canadian Solar

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
Tier 1 bankable
Yes
VSUN
Founded
2012
Headquarters
Frankfurt am Main, Germany
02

Catalogue against catalogue

Averages over every model in the database
Metric Canadian Solar VSUN
Catalog & Power
Panel Models 292+181 111
Max Power 730 W+15 W 715 W
Avg Power 472 W 524 W+52 W
Efficiency
Max Efficiency 24.40%+1.26 pp 23.14%
Avg Efficiency 20.66% 21.71%+1.06 pp
Reliability & Warranty
Avg Temp Coefficient -0.331%/°C -0.308%/°C+0.023
Bifacial Share 133 (46%) 83 (75%)+29 pp
Avg Warranty 28.2 yrs 29.7 yrs+1.5 yr

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.

03

What each of them builds

Cell technology across the market
Efficiency spread
Share of each catalogue in every efficiency band

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

Power spread
Share of each catalogue in every power band

VSUN offers more 600W+ panels (29% of lineup)

Canadian Solar cell technology
Share of their models by cell architecture

Dominant cell tech: <strong>PERC</strong> (67%)

VSUN cell technology
Share of their models by cell architecture

Dominant cell tech: <strong>TOPCon</strong> (72%)

04

The flagships

Highest-power models from each brand
05

Written summary

Checking cache...

Canadian Solar is a Canada-headquartered module manufacturer listed on NASDAQ since 2006, with manufacturing spread across Asia and a global commercial footprint. It has been named to S&P Global Commodity Insights' Tier 1 Cleantech Companies list and reports module production capacity around 61 GW annually, placing it among the largest suppliers worldwide. VSUN, owned by Japan's Abalance Group through Fuji Solar, was founded in 2015 with its main factory based in Vietnam; it is a smaller but independently confirmed Tier 1 manufacturer per BloombergNEF's 2025 rankings. In terms of institutional depth and scale, Canadian Solar clearly has the stronger footprint, backed by two decades of public listing history and a much larger production base.

Both brands center their current lineups on N-type TOPCon cell technology. Canadian Solar also fields an HJT line, and its TOPCon and HJT HP modules have earned FM 4478/4480 hail-resistance approvals, while its newest TOPCon 3.0 series pushes output to 670 W at 24.8% efficiency, targeted mainly at utility-scale and C&I projects. VSUN's catalog runs from 390 W to 715 W, with bifacial TOPCon dual-glass modules aimed at ground-mount and commercial installations alongside a more compact 380-460 W range for residential rooftops, backed by a 30-year performance warranty. For buyers, this suggests Canadian Solar is the safer default for large utility-scale portfolios needing top-tier bankability, while VSUN can be a competitive option for residential and mid-scale commercial jobs.

In practical terms the technological gap between the two is narrow - both hold Tier 1 status and rely on similar N-type architectures. The decision often comes down to local distributor support, warranty terms, and pricing rather than any fundamental advantage of one brand over the other.

Generated by Claude Sonnet 5 · 2026-08-05

06

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Something missing from a catalogue? Both lists are built from the datasheets in the database. If a model is absent, it has not been ingested yet.

Shop prices: See 38 Canadian Solar offers · See 3 VSUN 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.