Canadian Solar vs Weran Solar - solar panel manufacturer comparison
Canadian Solar has the broader catalog (292 vs 17 models). Weran Solar leads on peak efficiency at 24.60%. 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
Weran Solar skews to higher efficiency: 41% of lineup is 23%+
Weran Solar offers more 600W+ panels (65% of lineup)
Dominant cell tech: <strong>PERC</strong> (67%)
The flagships
Written summary
Canadian Solar is a Canadian manufacturer founded in 2001 by Dr. Shawn Qu, listed on Nasdaq since 2006, and now headquartered in Kitchener, Ontario, with a module factory in Guelph. The company has consistently held Tier 1 bankability status from BloombergNEF and recently appeared on S&P Global's Energy Premier Tier 1 Cleantech Companies list, with planned annual module manufacturing capacity exceeding 50 GW, placing it among the largest and most financially trusted names in the industry. Weran Solar, by contrast, is a much younger Chinese company founded in 2015, headquartered in Shanghai with a factory in Taizhou, operating at roughly 2 GW of annual module capacity and exporting to more than 85 countries through its own warehouses in Nigeria and Singapore plus an agent network that includes Europe. On institutional footprint and manufacturing scale, Canadian Solar is clearly the larger and more established player.
Canadian Solar's portfolio spans residential rooftop, commercial and industrial, and utility-scale ground-mount projects, supported by its own energy storage and power plant development business, making it a versatile partner for installers and large project developers alike. Weran Solar's lineup centers on PERC, HPBC, and N-TOPCon modules, including an HPBC 2.0 panel rated at 24.6 percent efficiency shown at SNEC 2025, and the company also acts as an authorized distributor of LONGi panels, pointing to a positioning around cost-competitive supply for emerging markets and smaller-scale installations rather than bank-financed utility projects.
For a typical international buyer, Canadian Solar remains the safer default choice given its long track record, Tier 1 status, and more established warranty and service infrastructure. Weran Solar can be a reasonable option for price-sensitive residential or C&I projects, or where local access to LONGi-branded panels through its distribution network is valuable, but it does not yet match Canadian Solar's bankability history or production scale.
Generated by Claude Sonnet 5 · 2026-09-28
Other brand comparisons
Shop prices: See 38 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.