Canadian Solar was founded in 2001 by Dr. Shawn Xiaohua Qu in Canada. Dr. Qu is still currently the Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer of Canadian Solar. In 2006 Canadian Solar was listed on the NASDAQ. Although most of their production is based in China, Canadian Solar has two manufacturing facilities in Ontario, Canada.
In March 2020 the Canadian Solar research and development team produced an n-type multi-crystalline silicon solar cell that tested at a world record 23.81% efficiency. Currently, the world’s most efficient residential solar panel is 22.6%.
Canadian Solar have the fifth largest solar panel manufacturing capacity in the world (according to Bloomberg NEF), and have an increasing Australian presence. They have 4 warehouses across Australia and employ 50 local staff to work across solar panel sales and service and their large-scale solar farm projects.