CSUN vs Trina Solar - solar panel manufacturer comparison
Trina Solar has the broader catalog (340 vs 35 models). Trina Solar leads on peak efficiency at 24.80%. Trina Solar leans bifacial (43% 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
China Sunergy (CSUN) is a Chinese manufacturer of solar cells and photovoltaic modules headquartered in Nanjing, Jiangsu. The company produces high-efficiency mono- and multicrystalline solar cells and modules from production facilities in China and, historically, Turkey. It was formerly listed on NASDAQ and was...
- Founded
- 2004
- Headquarters
- Nanjing, China
- Annual capacity
- 2-3 GW/year
- Employees
- 1000-5000
- Tier 1 bankable
- Yes
- Founded
- 1997
- Headquarters
- Changzhou, China
- 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
Trina Solar skews to higher efficiency: 22% of lineup is 23%+
Trina Solar offers more 600W+ panels (34% of lineup)
Dominant cell tech: <strong>PERC</strong> (94%)
Dominant cell tech: <strong>TOPCon</strong> (73%)
The flagships
Written summary
CSUN, formally China Sunergy, is a Chinese manufacturer headquartered in Nanjing, founded in 2004 and running its first cell production line since 2005. It listed on NASDAQ in 2007 but was delisted in 2016 after significant financial trouble, and one of its US-based affiliates filed for bankruptcy in 2021. The company operates a comparatively modest 2.5 GW of annual production capacity across seven factories in China, the US, Turkey, South Korea and Vietnam, and does not appear on BloombergNEF's Tier 1 list. Trina Solar, in business since 1997 and headquartered in Changzhou, is one of the industry's global leaders, having shipped over 205 GW of modules to date, employing roughly 30,000 people, and running about 100 GW of annual manufacturing capacity, putting it among the top three producers worldwide alongside Jinko Solar and LONGi. Trina has repeatedly earned Tier 1 status and an AAA bankability rating, giving it a substantially stronger institutional footprint than CSUN.
CSUN's catalog spans mono- and multicrystalline modules across full-cell, half-cell, bifacial and shingled series aimed at residential, commercial and larger ground-mount projects, though its market presence outside Asia is limited and it rarely appears in independent field tests from Western installers. Trina Solar's lineup is considerably broader, with the Vertex series serving utility-scale and ground-mount installations, TALLMAX targeting commercial and large-scale projects, and the Vertex S/S+ line built for residential rooftops, all built around n-type i-TOPCon technology with modules now exceeding 700 W of output.
For a typical buyer, whether a residential customer or a developer sourcing for a commercial project, Trina Solar is the safer default choice given its confirmed bankability, mature TOPCon platform and global manufacturing scale. CSUN may still fit narrow, budget-driven applications, but its history of financial instability and lack of Tier 1 status warrant caution around long-term warranty support and project financing.
Generated by Claude Sonnet 5 · 2026-08-20
Other brand comparisons
Shop prices: See 1 CSUN offer · See 252 Trina 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.