Objective . maintain 24/7 surveillance 2 days straight without sun.
4 x 18ah 12v sla batteries.
4 x 18ah 12v sla batteries.
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Solar battery ip cam diy
- Thread starter dudemaar
- Start date
So far so good. Had 2 rain days in a row, after a almost a fully charged bank.
system Watts aprox:
IPC-5442 -ZE- V3 Basic: 3.5 W (12 VDC) Max. (H.265+ WDR+ Intelligence on+IR on): 6.7 W (12 VDC)
Airlink-LX40 - 2 Watts (when sending a IVS alert or Live viewing).
Sun Max Solar Point- Max. Power Consumption 2W
solar.ui.com
Average Watts used = 10Watts
solar Panel - 100Watt
My battery configuration
4 x 12 V 18(ah) batteries is series/parallel, making 24V @ 36(ah)
Some helpful links:
www.batterystuff.com
www.batterystuff.com
I am no expert at this and just an experiment atm, But I plug my numbers into this calculator and it tells me I need another 100W panel. I do agree it would definitely help. I am not sure if I am even inputting my numbers in correctly?
system Watts aprox:
IPC-5442 -ZE- V3 Basic: 3.5 W (12 VDC) Max. (H.265+ WDR+ Intelligence on+IR on): 6.7 W (12 VDC)
Airlink-LX40 - 2 Watts (when sending a IVS alert or Live viewing).
Sun Max Solar Point- Max. Power Consumption 2W
Ubiquiti | Rethinking IT
Technology platforms for Internet Access, Enterprise, and SmartHome applications.
Average Watts used = 10Watts
solar Panel - 100Watt
My battery configuration
4 x 12 V 18(ah) batteries is series/parallel, making 24V @ 36(ah)
Some helpful links:
Tools for Calculating Power, Wattage
How much power does my fridge use? How many watts will a solar panel produce in a day? What about battery size? BatteryStuff.com created this handy dandy list of tools that our techs use when calculating power, wattage, battery size and so much more. Check them out for yourself!
Solar Panel Calculator
Calculate how many solar panels you need with this solar calculator. Great for estimating the solar panels needed for a solar array project.
I am no expert at this and just an experiment atm, But I plug my numbers into this calculator and it tells me I need another 100W panel. I do agree it would definitely help. I am not sure if I am even inputting my numbers in correctly?
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I looked at a panel setup for car camping a while back, if I remember correctly, normally MPPT charge controllers require a voltage greater than the battery- so the Ubiquiti equipment is quite unusual.
The input range for the SM-SP-40 is 10-60V, max. 10A, so you'd have to add a second one of those panels in series rather than parallel.
I can't see anything obviously wrong with the calculation, do you have a way to track longer term power demand of your equiment through the user interface? Either way, 10w is a good start; 240Wh per day.
Lead-based cells are better not being discharged too far, so divide the capacity by 2, gives you usable 432Wh, 1.8 days usage (ignoring losses etc).
Going the other direction, for charging, is slightly more tricky due to more variables (sunlight intensity, hours, panel efficiency, shading, etc)... this is where the numbers from the GUI will help as they're "real world" rather than napkin math. If you've a 100w panel and get 4 hours of sun a day, that's 400wh in a perfect world(!).
Given the panel won't be at rated output for those 4 hours (because rated is measured in a lab, and not real world), dirt on the panel, sub-optimal orientation, shadows, etc.. and lead acid charging inefficiency (not all power in is stored, some is lost as heat), I'd half the rating, so you'd get 200Wh+ day more realistically, meaning you'd need two full days of sun to charge the battery up from flat...
Edit to clarify I'm no expert either(!)
The input range for the SM-SP-40 is 10-60V, max. 10A, so you'd have to add a second one of those panels in series rather than parallel.
I can't see anything obviously wrong with the calculation, do you have a way to track longer term power demand of your equiment through the user interface? Either way, 10w is a good start; 240Wh per day.
Lead-based cells are better not being discharged too far, so divide the capacity by 2, gives you usable 432Wh, 1.8 days usage (ignoring losses etc).
Going the other direction, for charging, is slightly more tricky due to more variables (sunlight intensity, hours, panel efficiency, shading, etc)... this is where the numbers from the GUI will help as they're "real world" rather than napkin math. If you've a 100w panel and get 4 hours of sun a day, that's 400wh in a perfect world(!).
Given the panel won't be at rated output for those 4 hours (because rated is measured in a lab, and not real world), dirt on the panel, sub-optimal orientation, shadows, etc.. and lead acid charging inefficiency (not all power in is stored, some is lost as heat), I'd half the rating, so you'd get 200Wh+ day more realistically, meaning you'd need two full days of sun to charge the battery up from flat...
Edit to clarify I'm no expert either(!)
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Well could I go with a 200W panel ? would have to purchase it for $195 CDN dollhairs. Its only 22 " longer but 2 inches narrower than my 100W . can always use the 100W for something else around here.
2 x 100Watt panels would not fit my setup, unless I got a pole mount bracket.
The 200Watt 12V panel is Current at Pmax (Imp): 10.76A Not sure if that would matter ?
current set-up I built for at our jobsite in a few weeks.
And yes I will be spray painting over the Dewalt logo's or cover it some how. lol
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That's a neat setup, I assume this is for security on a construction site?
I'd stick with the setup for a bit (especially coming into winter if you're in Northern hemisphere) and make a call on whether it is "good enough". Must have a few more days of data by now, how's it holding up?
Might have a fraction more room in that box for larger batteries, but given they're heavy, I'd be worried about the box breaking when you have to move them!
Nice to see a practical "solar camera setup", most people don't realise the required power draw and have unrealistic expectations.