AOV Solar Cameras Explained: What Always-On Video Means for Wholesale Buyers

What "AOV solar" means

AOV stands for Always-On Video. An AOV solar camera records continuously instead of waking only when a passive infrared (PIR) sensor detects body heat. It runs on an internal battery charged by an integrated solar panel and sends footage over 4G LTE, so it needs neither grid power nor WiFi. The "always-on" part is made practical by on-chip AI scene analysis: the camera holds a low-power standby state with the image sensor live, and spends real bitrate and storage only when the scene actually changes. AOV is an industry-generic term used across the Shenzhen supply chain — it is not a proprietary brand name, and any supplier quoting you "AOV" is describing this recording architecture, not a patented feature.

If you are sourcing them: SolaGuard's catalogue contains 49 AOV models, wholesale prices quoted per order, across four series. All 49 are 2K, all are IP66, all use microSD storage up to 128GB, and their batteries run 8000mAh to 20000mAh paired with either an 8W or a 15W panel. The wider catalogue is 150 SKUs, so AOV sits at the upper half of the range — you pay a premium over PIR-only units, and this article explains what that premium buys and when it is worth quoting to your customer.

AOV versus PIR-triggered: what actually changes on site

PIR triggering is cheap and power-efficient, and for a front door it is usually enough. It fails in three specific situations that matter enormously in agricultural, industrial and logistics deployments — which is where most of the demand in Vietnam and Latin America sits.

Slow movement. PIR fires on a rapid change in infrared signature across its detection zones. Someone moving deliberately slowly, crawling, or crossing at an oblique angle can pass through without triggering. Livestock theft and fuel siphoning are patient crimes; the perpetrators are not sprinting past the lens.

Out-of-zone events. A PIR sensor covers a cone, and that cone is narrower than the camera's field of view. Anything happening at the edge of frame — a gate opening, a vehicle stopping on the perimeter road — is visible to the lens but invisible to the trigger, so it is never recorded.

Ambient temperature. PIR works on the contrast between a warm body and a cooler background. In the dry-season heat of the Mekong Delta or northern Mexico at midday, that contrast narrows and detection range degrades. This is the single most common complaint that comes back through distributors after a first summer in the field.

Timeline continuity. With PIR you get clips. With AOV you get a timeline. When a client needs to establish what happened between 02:10 and 02:40 — not just what was energetic enough to trip a sensor — clips are worthless and a continuous record settles the question. For insurance claims and workplace-incident disputes, this alone justifies the higher unit price.

AOV does not abolish physics. Continuous encoding uses more power than sleeping, which is why the panel and battery sizing below is the real specification decision, and why a 128GB card fills faster on an AOV unit than on a PIR one. Configure retention accordingly and specify higher-capacity cards where the client insists on longer local history.

The four AOV series

These are the exact counts and price ranges. Check them against the product catalogue before you quote — a variant count that does not match is the fastest way to lose a buyer's confidence.

Reading the table as a buyer

The SG-C41G-10T66-V1 is the entry point: single lens, 8000mAh, 8W. It is the unit to sample when the customer is price-anchored and the site has clear sun.

The dual-lens families split on power, not optics. SG-D42G-10F66-V1 and SG-D42G-15F66-V1 are both 2K dual lens; the difference is 8000mAh/8W against 20000mAh/15W. That gap — the price step between the two power packages — is what you are selling when a site has partial shade, a long monsoon, or a client who will not tolerate a camera going dark for two overcast days. Quote the 15W family for anything you cannot personally inspect for sun exposure.

The triple-lens SG-S43G-10T66-V* series covers wide-plus-detail scenarios — a yard entrance where you need both the full approach and a readable plate — with wholesale prices quoted per order.

Sizing the panel and battery honestly

The most common field failure in solar 4G deployments is not the camera. It is a panel that never recovers the battery because someone mounted it facing the wrong way, or under a tree that had no leaves in February.

Continuous recording draws steadily rather than in bursts, so the daily energy budget has to close every day, not on average across a good week. Practical rules that hold up in the field:

• Specify 15W and 20000mAh for shaded, high-latitude, monsoon-season or heavily-trafficked sites where motion is near-constant.
• 8W and 8000mAh is sufficient for open, sun-exposed installations — open fields, flat roofs, unobstructed perimeter poles.
• Mount the panel separately from the camera body where the enclosure design allows, so the lens can face the scene while the panel faces the sun.
• IP66 covers powerful water jets and full dust ingress, which is the correct rating for pole-mounted outdoor use. If a client's application involves genuine immersion — flood zones, wash-down areas — that requires a higher ingress rating and should go to the factory as a custom request, not a stock order.

Installation runs 5–10 minutes per camera: mount, insert the SIM and microSD, pair to the app. No trenching, no electrician, no network drop. For a distributor this is the margin argument — the installed cost of a 20-camera site is close to the hardware cost, which is not true of any PoE alternative.

Order terms, OEM and lead times

Cameras are manufactured by Shenzhen Leksell, established 2012, certified to TÜV Rheinland, CE, FCC and RoHS. Certification matters for customs clearance into both Vietnam and most Latin American markets; ask any supplier for the certificate numbers, not a logo on a PDF.

OEM and private label are available on every model, including all 49 AOV SKUs — your logo on the housing, your name in the app, your packaging. That is the difference between reselling someone else's brand at a fixed margin and building an asset in your own market. The 100-unit OEM minimum is deliberately low enough to test a brand before committing to a container.

A Ho Chi Minh City office handles Vietnamese orders directly, which is why domestic lead times are quoted in business days rather than weeks. There is no other regional warehouse; orders outside Vietnam ship from the factory.

Resolution is 1080p–2K as standard across the catalogue. 4K exists only as a custom or OEM build with its own quantity and lead-time terms — if a competitor's stock listing claims 4K at an AOV price point, ask them for the sensor part number.

Where to start

Sample first, always. Ten units at 20% margin is a cheap way to learn how a specific model behaves in your actual climate before you commit capital. Order terms, price breaks and OEM options are set out on the wholesale page, and the tier structure for regional distribution is on the dealer page. Quantity-specific pricing and lead times come from a person, not a form — email info@solaguard.net with the site conditions and the SKUs you are considering, and you will get a quote built against them.