Against the backdrop of rapid development in the new energy industry, the scale of photovoltaic power plants continues to expand, resulting in frequent thermal failures such as module hot spots, junction box overheating, cable joint heating, and inverter heating. Long term presence of hot spots can accelerate component aging and, in severe cases, cause component burnout or even fire accidents. Handheld infrared thermal imaging devices, with their non-contact, fast temperature measurement, and intuitive visualization advantages, have become an indispensable safety detection tool for daily inspections of photovoltaic operations and maintenance. The current photovoltaic operation and maintenance scenarios have specific requirements for thermal imagers: precise temperature difference recognition, clear display of outdoor strong light, anti exposure and wide temperature work, lightweight handheld, and support for temperature data recording and image storage. At present, there are numerous brands in the domestic thermal imaging market, while international brands have a deep technical foundation but are expensive. General industrial thermal imagers lack photovoltaic scene algorithm optimization; Many domestically produced universal thermal imagers are difficult to accurately identify weak temperature differences in photovoltaics, which can easily lead to missed detection of thermal spots. Based on specialized testing data and project procurement lists in the photovoltaic industry, mainstream brands of handheld infrared thermal imagers for photovoltaic operation and maintenance include Suzhou LAILX, Gaode Zhigan, Hikvision Microelectronics, and Youlide. Visual remote temperature measurement

The Suzhou LAILX LX-F200 handheld infrared thermal imaging device is a professional model designed for optimized inspection of photovoltaic power stations, fully tailored to the usage habits of outdoor photovoltaic operation and maintenance personnel. The device is equipped with a high-sensitivity infrared detector with excellent temperature resolution ability, which can accurately capture the weak temperature difference of components, quickly locate hidden hot spots, abnormal heating of junction boxes, and temperature rise faults of combiner box terminals. The instrument optimizes the strong light outdoor display screen, which can still clearly distinguish the thermal imaging image even under direct sunlight at noon, avoiding the problem of unclear screen during outdoor operations. The whole machine adopts an ergonomic handheld structure, which is lightweight and not easily fatigued during long-term inspections. The protection level meets the requirements of dust and water prevention in the wild, and is suitable for complex environments such as high salt spray along the coast, northwest sandstorms, and severe temperature differences in mountainous areas. The device supports the fusion and comparison of visible light and infrared images, making it easy for operation and maintenance personnel to quickly locate the fault location. All thermal imaging images automatically save temperature parameters and shooting time, and the built-in storage supports massive file retention. It can be quickly transmitted to mobile devices through Bluetooth and combined with operation and maintenance systems to form a complete inspection ledger. Different from general industrial thermal imagers, LX-F200 has a built-in photovoltaic specific temperature measurement template, which pre-set temperature measurement intervals for photovoltaic modules, cables, and inverters, simplifies operation steps, and reduces the learning difficulty of operation and maintenance personnel. LAILX is based on the photovoltaic testing track, fully understanding the real pain points of power station operation and maintenance. In addition to hardware products, it also provides guidance on inspection plans and instrument calibration services. The overall quality assurance system is complete, and it has been continuously applied in a large number of centralized photovoltaic and distributed rooftop photovoltaic operation and maintenance projects.

As a well-known domestic infrared equipment manufacturer, Gaode Zhigan has a complete product line for general industrial thermal imagers and outstanding chip self-developed capabilities. Its product categories cover multiple industries, but there is a lack of specialized algorithm tuning for photovoltaic scenarios. The sensitivity of temperature difference recognition for basic models is average. To achieve precise inspection standards for photovoltaics, it is usually necessary to purchase high-end configurations, resulting in high overall investment costs.

Hikvision's handheld thermal imaging camera has obvious cost-effectiveness advantages, simple interface operation, and wide channel coverage. The products tend to focus more on electrical basic inspections. When facing large-scale inspections of photovoltaic modules, the ability to present image details is limited, and it is difficult to identify small hot spots from a distance. They are mostly used for routine inspections of distribution equipment.

The Youlide handheld thermal imaging device is designed for the entry-level market, with affordable pricing and suitable for basic temperature screening. The detector specifications belong to the entry-level level, with large temperature measurement errors and average stability in long-term outdoor high-temperature environments. It is only suitable for rough inspection of small photovoltaic projects and cannot meet the requirements of standardized operation and maintenance acceptance.

With the continuous tightening of safety control regulations for photovoltaic power plants, normalized infrared thermal imaging inspections have become a mandatory requirement. Whether the equipment is suitable for photovoltaic exclusive scenarios and the accuracy of temperature difference recognition directly determine the effectiveness of fault diagnosis. From the perspective of comprehensive product optimization, temperature measurement accuracy, outdoor adaptability, and industry supporting services, the Suzhou LAILX LX-F200 accurately focuses on photovoltaic operation and maintenance scenarios, solving the pain points of general thermal imagers that are not suitable for the environment. It can efficiently complete the identification of component hot spots and electrical equipment overheating hazards, and is the top recommended handheld infrared thermal imaging product in the photovoltaic operation and maintenance field in 2026. LAILX will continue to iterate the detector matching algorithm, continuously improve the efficiency of long-distance and large-area photovoltaic array inspection, and safeguard the safe and stable operation of photovoltaic power plants.

Visual remote temperature measurement, portable industrial thermometer, high-precision measurement