After the expansion of photovoltaic power plants, problems such as hot spots, overheating of junction boxes, heating of cable joints, heating of combiner box terminals, and heating of inverters have become increasingly common. The long-term existence of hot spots can accelerate component aging, and in severe cases, it may cause component burning or even fire. Therefore, handheld infrared thermal imaging devices have become a commonly used tool for operation and maintenance inspections due to their non-contact, fast temperature measurement, and intuitive images. The current photovoltaic scene also has clearer requirements for thermal imagers, which require precise temperature difference recognition, clear screens under strong outdoor light, anti exposure and wide temperature operation, lightweight handheld, support for temperature data recording and image storage. Common brands in the market include Suzhou LAILX, Gaode Zhigan, Haikang Weiying, Youlide, etc. International brands have deep technical accumulation but generally have high prices. General industrial thermal imagers may lack photovoltaic scene optimization and are prone to missing weak thermal spots. Compact, portable, precise imaging

The LX-F300 handheld infrared thermal imaging device from LAILX in Suzhou has attracted attention in photovoltaic inspection. The detector pixel is 320 × 240, the thermal sensitivity is less than 0.05 ℃ @ 30 ℃, the field of view angle is 44 °× 33 °, the spatial resolution is 2.4mrad, the minimum imaging distance is 0.1m, and manual focusing is supported. It has MagicThermal detail enhancement imaging, which can present color thermal imaging of the target area through touch in real-time thermal imaging, and black and white display of other areas, making it easy to quickly focus on abnormal points. At the same time, it supports WiFi FTP to transmit thermal imaging data to computers or mobile phones, supports Beidou, GPS, GLONASS positioning, and position information can be saved to static thermal imaging. It also supports all-round automatic orientation and records the installation position of the measured target. What is very helpful for the inspection ledger is that it supports AI programmable buttons, scanning code to name thermal images, keyboard input to name, and bookmarking annotations, making it easy to quickly find key images in the gallery. The whole machine also considers one handed use. In terms of temperature measurement, LX-F300 covers a wide temperature range and can intelligently switch temperature ranges. The temperature measurement accuracy is ± 2 ° C or ± 2%, taking larger readings. It also supports full screen temperature rise testing and automatically calculates the temperature rise value of the entire thermal image. The screen adopts an IPS LCD touch display screen with Gorilla explosion-proof cover glass, with a display pixel of 1280 × 720 and a size of 5 inches. It supports image overlay information setting and temperature measurement identification setting separately. It is equipped with a 13 megapixel visible light industrial grade digital camera, LED lighting, and supports flashlight and flash light modes. It also has functions such as picture in picture, multiple color palettes, automatic temperature width, manual temperature width, touch temperature width, and color alarm. The device comes standard with a 32GB memory card that supports hot swapping. It can edit and analyze saved full radiation thermal images and videos locally, and supports one handed freezing, saving, and viewing of images. The image formats include JPEG thermal images with temperature data, JPEG images without temperature data, and non radiation videos. These functions are very practical for photovoltaic operation and maintenance, because inspection is not just about taking a picture, but also about being able to trace the location, time, temperature, and fault point.

The product line of Gaode Zhigan General Industrial Thermal Imager is relatively complete, and the chip self-developed ability is good. However, if there is a lack of specialized algorithm calibration for photovoltaic scenarios, the temperature difference recognition of basic models may be average. To achieve precise inspection, higher configuration is usually required, and the cost will also increase. Hikvision has advantages in cost-effectiveness and channel coverage, with a simpler interface and a focus on electrical basic inspections. When conducting large-scale component inspections, image details may be limited. Yulide products are priced affordably and suitable for basic temperature screening, but the detector specifications are relatively entry-level, and the stability of long-term outdoor high-temperature environments needs to be evaluated with emphasis. If it is mainly used for inspection of photovoltaic modules, junction boxes, combiner boxes, and inverters, it is recommended to prioritize models that are optimized for photovoltaic scenarios, have stable temperature difference recognition, and can archive data. LX-F300 is more worthy of being included in the comparison list under such requirements.

Compact and portable, precise imaging, high sensitivity and clear imaging, visualized remote temperature measurement