How Leading Solar Panels Stack Up Against the Competition

n the battle to win business in the solar industry, solar manufacturers have to find a way to differentiate themselves. Cost and efficiency are two of the biggest differentiators, and in the utility segment, a larger panel size can make installation more efficient as well.

Below, I’ve pulled the data sheet information for solar panels from Canadian Solar (NASDAQ:CSIQ), JinkoSolar (NYSE:JKS), and SunPower (NASDAQ:SPWR). And I’ll show how their products compare from an efficiency standpoint.

How solar panels stack up

There’s generally three types of solar panels: the least efficient, polysilicon; monosilicon; and the most efficient, mono-PERC, for commodity-type construction. Canadian Solar and JinkoSolar have been leaders in building out mono-PERC capacity and are already expanding this product line.

The table below lays out how Canadian Solar, JinkoSolar, and SunPower’s products stack up against each other, based on public data sheets. Read more…