How to Add Hikvision Solar Cameras to NVR, Powered by sunlight, Hikvision’s Solar-powered Security Camera Setups help establish critical awareness in locations where power cords are difficult to deploy. Hikvision’s solar-powered product family continues to grow, adding multiple functions and formats – even kits you can design yourself for your unique application. The new-generation solar-powered products provide flexible viewing angles, simple deployment, and reliable performance for virtually limitless scenarios.

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How to Add Hikvision Solar Cameras to NVR

Manage Solar Camera

After adding a solar camera to the Mobile Client, you can control and manage it remotely. The supported functions include waking up the device, viewing its network signal strength, switching power consumption mode, etc.

Wake Up Solar Camera

Unlike using other network cameras, you need to wake up a solar camera before you can control it. You can wake it up in the following three ways:

• On the device list page, if the page is in the list mode, swipe the device name to the left and tap  to enter the device settings page. Once you enter this page, the camera will start waking up.

• On the device list page, if the page is in thumbnail mode, tap  to enter the device settings page. Once you enter this page, the camera will start waking up.

• On the device list, tap the device to enter its live view page. Once you enter this page, the camera will start waking up.

View Network Signal Strength

Enter the device settings page of the solar camera, and then tap Network Strength to view its network strength level.

Switch Power Consumption Mode

Enter the device settings page of the solar camera, tap Power Consumption Mode and then select a mode.

Note:

After switching power consumption mode, you need to reboot the solar camera to make the new settings take effect on the device.

Device Management

You need to add devices to the Mobile Client before you can do further remote operations such as live view and playback.

The devices added to the Mobile Client will be displayed in thumbnail mode or list mode.

Thumbnail Mode

You can tap  in the upper-left side of the home page to switch the display mode of the device list to thumbnail mode.

In the thumbnail mode, the video resources are displayed as the thumbnails of their video channel images; the security control resources, doorbells, and access control resources are displayed as device pictures.

List Mode

You can tap  in the upper-left side of the home page to switch the display mode of the device list to list mode.

In the list mode, all the resources are displayed as icons with names on the right.

Activate an Inactive Device

When adding a device, if the device is not activated, a window will pop up to ask you to activate the device.

The device and the phone running the Mobile Client should be in the same LAN.

Note:

For the access control device, you should activate it via other clients (e.g., Guarding Vision client software).

Add Device for Management

You need to add devices to the Mobile Client first so that subsequent operations such as live view and playback can be available. If you want to receive alarm event information from a device, you should add it by scanning QR code or Guarding Vision domain.

Note:

Add an Online Device

The Mobile Client can detect the online devices in the same local area network with your phone, and you can add the detected online devices to the Mobile Client.

Make sure the devices are connected to the same local area network with the phone.

1.On the device list page, tap  > Online Device to enter the Online Device page.

All detected online devices will be in the list.

2.Select a device for adding.

Figure 1. Online Device

Note:

• For network cameras, make sure the device Multicast Discovery function is enabled so that the online network camera can be automatically detected via private multicast protocol in the LAN. For details, see User Manual of the network camera.

• For the inactive device (excluding the access control device), tap Active to create a password for it before you can add the device properly. For more information about the device activation, see Activate an Inactive Device.

3.Optional: Edit the network information.

a.Tap .

b.Change the device IP address to the same LAN as your phone’s by either editing the IP address manually or enabling the device DHCP function.

c.Tap  and input the admin password of the device to save the settings.

1.Tap Add.

2.Enter the required information, including device alias, user name and the password.

3.Tap .

4.Optional: Delete the device.

• On the device list, if the list is in list mode, swipe the device name to the left and tap  > Delete Device.

• On the device list, if the list is in thumbnail mode, tap the device name or tap , and then tap Delete Device

Add Device(s) by Scanning Device QR Code

You can add the device by scanning the device’s QR code. You can also add device(s) by scanning the QR code obtained via Guarding Vision client software, iVMS-4500 mobile client, or the web page of the device.

Note:

• For details about obtaining QR code via Guarding Vision client software, iVMS-4500 mobile client, or the web page of the device, see the user manual of Guarding Vision client software, iVMS-4500 mobile client, or the device respectively for details.

• If adding an access control device, you should activate the device and set the device network information via other clients (e.g., Guarding Vision client software) before adding it to the Mobile Client.

1.On the device list page, tap  > Scan QR Code to enter the Scan QR Code page.

2.Scan the QR code.

• Scan the QR code by aligning the QR Code with the scanning frame.

Note:

• Usually, the device QR code is printed on the label, which is on the back cover of the device.

• Tap  to enable the flashlight if the scanning environment is too dark.

• If there are QR codes in photo album of the phone, tap  to extract QR code from local album.

3.Optional: Perform the following operations if the following situations occur.

• If the system fails to recognize the QR code, tap  to add the device manually. See Add a Device by Guarding Vision Domain or Add a Device by IP/Domain for details.

• If the device has been added to another account, you should unbind the device from the account first. See Unbind Device from Its Original Account for details.

• If the device is offline, you should connect a network for the device. For details, see Connect Offline Device to Network for details.

• If the device is not activated, the Activate Device page will pop up (excluding the access control device). You should activate the device. For details, see Activate an Inactive Device for details.

• If the Guarding Vision service is disabled for the device, you should enable the function (excluding the access control device). For details, see Enable Guarding Vision Service When Adding Device on Mobile Client for details.

4.Tap Add on the Result page.

5.Enter the device verification code.

The device will be added successfully.

Note:

• The default device verification code is usually on the device label. If no verification code found, enter the device verification code you created when enabling Guarding Vision service.

• For details about enabling Guarding Vision service, see Enable Guarding Vision Service for Device.

6.Optional: Tap Configure DDNS to configure DDNS.

Note:

• See Set DDNS for details.

• After DDNS being enabled, the device will be accessed via IP address in priority, so that remote configuration of the device will be supported and the streaming speed will be faster than streaming via Guarding Vision service.

• If you skip this step, the device will be accessed via Guarding Vision service.

7.Tap Finish.

8.Optional: Delete the device.

• On the device list, if the list is in list mode, swipe the device name to the left and tap  > Delete Device.

• On the device list, if the list is in thumbnail mode, tap the device name or tap , and then tap Delete Device.

Add a Device by IP/Domain

You can add the device by fixed IP address or domain name. The streaming speed of devices added by IP/domain is faster than those added by Guarding Vision domain.

Note:

The Mobile Client doesn’t support receiving alarm event information from devices added by IP/domain. For details about managing event information on the Mobile Client, see Notification

1.Tap  and select Manual Adding.

2.Select IP/Domain as the adding type.

3.Enter the required information, such as alias, address, user name, camera No. and device password.

Address

Device IP address or domain name.

Camera No.

The number of the camera(s) under the device can be obtained after the device is successfully added.

4.Tap  to add the device.

Note:

• If the device is offline, you should connect the device to a network. For details, see Connect Offline Device to Network.

• If the device is not activated, the Activate Device page will be popped up (exclude the access control device). You should activate the device. For details, see Activate an Inactive Device.

5.Optional: Perform the following operations after adding the device.

Edit Device Information	On the Device Information page, tap  to edit the basic information of the device.
Star Live View	Tap Start Live View to view the live view of the device.
Delete a Device	Tap  and then tap Delete to delete the device.
Configure Device Parameters	Tap  and then tap Remote Configuration to remotely configure device parameters such as basic information, time settings, recording schedule, etc. See Remotely Configure Device for details.
Remote Controller	Tap  and then tap Remote Controller to remotely control the device. See Use Mobile Client as Device’s Remote Controller for details.

Add a Device by Guarding Vision Domain

For devices which support Guarding Vision service (a cloud service), you can add them manually by Guarding Vision domain.

• Make sure the device is powered on.

• If adding access control device, you should activate the device and set the device network information via other clients (e.g., Guarding Vision client software) before adding it to this client.

1.On the device list page, tap  > Manual Adding to enter the Add Device page.

2.Select Guarding Vision Domain as the adding type.

3.Enter the device serial No. manually.

Note:

• By default, the device serial No. is on the device label.

• For the video intercom devices, when entering the serial No. of the indoor station, the corresponding door station will also be added to the Mobile Client automatically.

• An indoor station can be linked to multiple door stations.

4.Tap  to search the device.

Note:

• If the device has been added to another account, you should unbind the device from the account first. See Unbind Device from Its Original Account for details.

• If the device is offline, you should connect a network for the device. For details, see Connect Offline Device to Network for details.

• If the device is not activated, the Activate Device page will pop up (excluding the access control device). You should activate the device. For details, see Activate an Inactive Device for details.

• If Guarding Vision service is disabled for the device, you should enable the function (excluding the access control device). For details, see Enable Guarding Vision Service When Adding Device on Mobile Client for details.

5.Tap Add on the Result page.

6.Enter the device verification code.

The device will be added successfully.

Note:

• The default device verification code is usually on the device label. If no verification code found, enter the device verification code you created when enabling Guarding Vision service.

• For details about enabling Guarding Vision service, see Enable Guarding Vision Service for Device.

7.Optional: Tap Configure DDNS to configure DDNS.

Note:

• See Set DDNS for details.

• After DDNS being enabled, the device will be accessed via IP address in priority, so that remote configuration of the device will be supported, and the streaming speed will be faster than streaming via Guarding Vision service.

• If you skip this step, the device will be accessed via Guarding Vision service.

8.Tap Finish.

9.Optional: Delete the device.

• On the device list, if the list is in list mode, swipe the device name to the left and tap  > Delete Device.

• On the device list, if the list is in thumbnail mode, tap the device name or tap , and then tap Delete Device.

Connect Offline Device to Network

When adding a device to the Mobile Client, if the device is offline, you should connect the device to a network first. The Mobile Client provides the following four methods for connecting offline devices to networks.

Note:

For access control device, you should connect it to a network via other Clients (e.g., Guarding Vision client software).

Connect to Wired Network

Use this method if a router is available for the device to connect to.

Note:

Make sure the device is powered on.

Connect to Wireless Network

Use this method if a wireless network is available for the device to connect to. “Device” here excludes wireless doorbell, wireless security control panel, and Mini Trooper (a kind of battery camera).

Note:

Connect to Network by Wi-Fi Configuration

You can use this method to connect wireless doorbell to the network by using the doorbell to scan the QR code generated by the Mobile Client.

Tap Connect to a Network on the Result page and then follow the instructions on the subsequent pages to connect the device to the network.

Connect to Network by Access Point

In the Mobile Client, Access Point (AP) refers to a networking hardware device (e.g., wireless doorbell or wireless security control panel), which can provide a Wi-Fi network for the phone to connect to.

Note:

You should have turned on WLAN in the phone’s operation system.

Tap Connect to a Network on the Result page, select Wireless Connection as the connection type, and then follow the instructions on the subsequent pages to complete the connection process.

Enable Guarding Vision Service for Device

Guarding Vision is a cloud service . When adding a device via Guarding Vision Domain or scanning QR code, the service should be enabled. You can enable the service via the Mobile Client, the device web page, or Guarding Vision client software. This section introduces how to enable the service via the former two methods.

Enable Guarding Vision Service When Adding Device on Mobile Client

When adding a device via Guarding Vision domain or scanning QR code, if the Guarding Vision service is not enabled for the device, the Enable Guarding Vision Service window will pop up to remind you to enable the service first.

Perform the following task to enable the Guarding Vision service in this case.

Continue the process for adding the device. See Add a Device by Guarding Vision Domain or Add Device(s) by Scanning Device QR Code for details.

Enable Guarding Vision Service on Device Web Page

You can enable Guarding Vision service for a device on the device web page.

Enable DHCP Function on Device Web Page

You can enable DHCP by following the steps below to allow allocating DNS address automatically.

Note:

If you want to enable the access control device’s DHCP function, you should enable it via other systems (e.g. Guarding Vision client software).

Unbind Device from Its Original Account

When adding a device by scanning QR code or Guarding Vision domain, if the result shows that the device has been added to another account, you should unbind it from the account before you can add it to your account.

Make sure the device and the phone running the Mobile Client are in the same local area network.

As the demand for flexible and eco-friendly surveillance solutions grows, solar-powered cameras have become an increasingly popular choice for remote and off-grid environments. To streamline video management and remote monitoring, HIKVISION now supports integrating solar cameras into its NVR system via the OTAP protocol, starting from firmware version 4.63.

In this guide, we’ll explore how to easily connect your solar camera to a HIKVISION NVR using OTAP, and highlight key benefits like live preview, video playback, and power management—perfect for integrators and system installers looking to optimize deployments in energy-conscious scenarios.

✅ What Is OTAP and Why It Matters?

OTAP (Open Things Access Protocol) is a communication method that allows solar cameras to connect to NVRs through wireless or 4G networks. With this, cameras can transmit live video, upload recordings, and even report power consumption levels—all without relying on wired connections.

This is ideal for deployments in areas like:

🔧 Step-by-Step: How to Add a Solar Camera to HIKVISION NVR

1. Camera-Side Configuration

Start by accessing the solar camera’s web interface and configuring OTAP settings:

📌 Tip: If the camera is on a 4G network, use the WAN IP of the NVR and ensure proper port forwarding.

Also, ensure a recording schedule is configured on the camera, so footage is available for later uploading.

2. NVR-Side Setup

You can enable Auto Add, so compatible solar cameras are automatically recognized. Otherwise, add them manually through:

Once added, the system displays the camera’s live video and battery power level.

📹 Playback & Video Management Features

⚙️ Practical Benefits for Installers & System Integrators

🏁 Conclusion

Integrating a HIKVISION solar camera into an NVR via OTAP opens the door to smarter, greener surveillance solutions. Whether you’re managing a remote project site or deploying eco-conscious security systems, this setup ensures seamless video access, power efficiency, and reliability.

Installers and users can refer to the user manual provided with the device for detailed interface steps and model-specific settings. With OTAP, bringing smart solar surveillance online has never been easier.

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