Our Company
R&D and Manufacturing
R&D Centre
Canadian Solar opened its newest state-of-the-art solar PV Research Center in the Suzhou district of China in early 2009. The 1500 square meter (16,145 sf) facility is staffed by PhD scientists, engineers and technicians focused on continuous improvement of efficiency and production yields for standard poly-silicon cells and our proprietary solar grade e-cells.
Our research and development of high efficiency solar cell structures include enhanced selective emitter, N-type and wrap-through back-contact cells. We partner with academic and business leaders such as DuPont, ECN, University of Toronto and Shanghai Jiao Tong University. Our research center is the only provincially accredited PV cell research center in Jiangsu Province, China, the heart of China’s PV industry.
ISO17025 Qualified Testing Lab
Canadian Solar is meticulous in the pursuit of testing and international accreditation of our facilities, so we may continue to deliver what we promise, and to guarantee what we deliver – always at the best price possible without compromising quality, durability or performance.
Established in early 2008, the Canadian Solar Photovoltaic Testing Lab ensures the highest international testing standards for solar panels delivered to our customers, operating with a full accreditation according to ISO/IEC 17025 (Accreditation Criteria for the Competence of Testing and Calibration Laboratories).
The Photovoltaic Testing Lab has been equipped with a damp heat chamber, thermal cycling chamber, UV chamber, hotspot test equipment, IR camera, salt spray chambers and water spray chambers. The following reliability tests may be conducted in our lab: thermal cycling, damp heat, UV, hotspot, mechanical load, I-V performance, outdoor exposure, dry & wet hi-pot, bypass diode thermal, humidity freeze and robustness of terminations.
Production facilities
Canadian Solar production facilities are structured for vertically-integrated manufacturing of ingots, wafers, solar cells, solar PV modules, solar power systems and specialized solar products. We have successfully established seven wholly-owned manufacturing subsidiaries across China with some of the lowest manufacturing cost structures in the industry. By the close of 2008, the Canadian Solar manufacturing capacity was:
Ingot facility capacity
- 1100 tons
Wafer capacity
- approx. 20 MW
Cell capacity
- approx. 270 MW
Module capacity
- over 600 MW
Canadian Solar has fast become one of the largest solar companies in the world. With a combined manufacturing facility space of close to 173,000 sqm (1.8 million SF), Canadian Solar’s 6000 employees around the world created revenues of $705 million in 2008: a 133% growth over 2007.