A method and an apparatus for detecting a solar cell of a photovoltaic plant. The method includes: obtaining a first infrared image and a second infrared image, where the first infrared image includes infrared image information corresponding to an ambient infrared signal reflected by a to-be-detected solar cell operating in a short-circuit state, the second infrared image includes infrared image information corresponding to an infrared signal emitted by the to-be-detected solar cell operating in a first state and infrared image information corresponding to an ambient infrared signal reflected by the to-be-detected solar cell, and the first state is another state other than the short-circuit state; and detecting, based on the first infrared image and the second infrared image, whether the to-be-detected solar cell has a defect.