Hello from a solar camera maker in Shenzhen

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PanweiLuo

n3wb
Oct 20, 2026
4
11
Shenzhen, China
Hi all,

I'm Panwei Luo, from Shenzhen, China. Full disclosure up front: I work for a manufacturer (PANWEI | SWBR / AOVSOLAR). We make solar-powered security cameras — 4G and Wi-Fi models, single and multi-lens — including the UBOX A50, which recently received a US design patent.

I joined because this is where the installers are, and installers see failure modes that never make it back to the factory. I'd genuinely like to hear: what makes you refuse to install a solar camera? Battery life claims? App quality? Mounting? After-sales?

I won't be posting ads or links — I'm here to listen and to answer manufacturing-side questions when they're useful (how panels are sized for a camera's power budget, why two "200-hour battery" claims differ so much, that kind of thing).

Thanks for having me.

— Panwei
 
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I did a quick search and found limited information. I have been in search of a wifi camera for a while now. So many on Amazon or Ali are dirt cheap to point they are questionable. The specs I found were not spectacular. I think most people here are interested in a quality camera. Can you point us to some actual datasheets? I have two places with wide open views that could benefit from a wifi camera in spite of the limitations. One is about 100 ft the other about 500 ft. I do not expect anything to make the 500 ft but this might work for the 100 ft location. I'm not interested in going cellular. Send me some info in a message please.
 
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I finally got to review that spec sheet. I do not think anybody would be opposed to you posting it. The camera A50-WiFi is a 3MP PTZ with a fixed 3MP camera. It has a 1/2.9 sensor. Night visionat .001 lux. 7W solar panel with 4 2500mah 18650 in parallel (10000mah) and 4W operating power, I think the electrical side of things are marginal. I don't want to beat this thing up but there was not anything that stood out.
 
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Fair points, fergenheimer — appreciate the honest read.

You're right that the power budget is sized for its target use: the A50-WiFi is aimed at spots with reliable sun and Wi-Fi coverage (homes, small businesses, farms with a router nearby), where the 7W panel keeps the 10Ah pack topped up. For fully off-grid sites with weak sun, our 4G version carries a larger 8W panel — happy to share that sheet too.

On "no standout highlights" — fair enough at the component level; most solar cameras share the same building blocks. Where we differentiate is on the factory side: we build these ourselves in Shenzhen, so distributors get OEM/ODM, custom firmware behavior, and direct engineering support instead of a white-label box. That's the conversation I'm hoping to have here.

Happy to keep the technical debate going — it's useful.

— Panwei
 
Following up on the power-budget discussion — it's the question I get asked most, so I'd like to hear how people here judge it.

A solar PIR camera lives or dies by its duty cycle: standby draw, triggers per day, seconds per event, and worst-month sun hours at the install latitude. Nameplate panel watts and battery mAh alone tell you almost nothing without those four numbers.

For those who have run solar cams through a winter: what duty cycle killed yours first — too many triggers, not enough sun, or something else entirely? That's the real-world data spec sheets never show.
 
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I believe the primary reason I would avoid installing a solar camera is the way it typically records: most rely on a motion sensor that activates the device. The issue is that the sensor may lack sensitivity and fails to capture activity beyond roughly five meters. I have a solar camera in my backyard, and it rarely records events. You must walk close for it to begin recording, and the battery level is nearly always low.
 
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