solar powered cctv setup

nerdk

New member
Joined
Mar 5, 2019
Messages
4
Hi everyone,

I'm just wanting to make sure that I am on the right path here. Basically, I want to solar power my cctvwireless cameras with 3 18650.

So far I got;

A BMSfor 3s

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/3S-25A-Li-ion-18650-BMS-PCM-Battery-Protection-Board-BMS-PCM-With-Balance-For-li/32817897264.html

image_xxdpia.jpg


image_ccbjmj.jpg





A 12v Solar controller

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/12V...lgo_pvid=435987b7-7379-4475-84ec-4f5604cbb3c1


image_yvmnky.jpg


And I'm not quite sure in regards what solar cell to get to plug connect to the solar controller that will be connected to the BMS that will be connected to 3x 18650.

There is 2 options

one is 18v 5w
http://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/bK3dTJjS
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/12V-18V-Solar-Panel-with-100-200cm-wire-Mini-Solar-System-DIY-For-Battery-Cell-Phone/32873844928.html


image_nlrygi.jpg


and the other solar is 18v 1.5w

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/18V-1-5Watt-with-100cm-extend-cable-Solar-Panel-Polycrystalline-Silicon-DIY-12V-Battery-Charger-Module/32878160012.html


image_mxcyks.jpg



image_viqyxz.jpg



The questions that remain here is the CCTV cameras are 12v 1amp and there will be 3x 18650 for each camera so would the 2nd solar cell option 1.5w be enough to charge the batteries?

Does my setup makes sense or is there something that I am missing?


Thanks ahead of time! :D :D
 
Between those two, I'd suggest the 1st one, and get the 5W version. However, you would need at least 4 of them to charge and power the cctv

If the cctv is 12V@1A, that's 12W. So 3 of the 5W panels gives you 15W (max). Not much room for the cells to be recharged. 5 solar panels would be better, if not going 6. The mppt will get the best out of the panels it can (i'm assuming it's a real mppt as it has the inductor, most pwm's don't have that).
The mppt can do up to 5A (@12V that's 60W, @18V that's 90W; tho the mppt will probably float around 12-14V)

And now for the cells for the cctv. What do you plan on using? What capacity cells? If they are 2000mAh, then this will only last you 2 hours. If you want the cctv to run all night, you will need at minimum 5p (assuming 2000mAh), but double that would be recommended for those times when fog, clouds, rain, etc are hindering recharging.

Which, this then goes back to the solar panels. To recharge those 5p, you will need more panels, perhaps 8 panels, to recharge them in the fastest amount of time possible, or to be able to get enough energy on cloudy days to bring them up slowly, but full.
 
Korishan said:
Between those two, I'd suggest the 1st one, and get the 5W version. However, you would need at least 4 of them to charge and power the cctv

If the cctv is 12V@1A, that's 12W. So 3 of the 5W panels gives you 15W (max). Not much room for the cells to be recharged. 5 solar panels would be better, if not going 6. The mppt will get the best out of the panels it can (i'm assuming it's a real mppt as it has the inductor, most pwm's don't have that).
The mppt can do up to 5A (@12V that's 60W, @18V that's 90W; tho the mppt will probably float around 12-14V)

And now for the cells for the cctv. What do you plan on using? What capacity cells? If they are 2000mAh, then this will only last you 2 hours. If you want the cctv to run all night, you will need at minimum 5p (assuming 2000mAh), but double that would be recommended for those times when fog, clouds, rain, etc are hindering recharging.

Which, this then goes back to the solar panels. To recharge those 5p, you will need more panels, perhaps 8 panels, to recharge them in the fastest amount of time possible, or to be able to get enough energy on cloudy days to bring them up slowly, but full.

Thanks for that, ok so the power supply of the CCTV cameras is 12v 1amp, I don't think that it takes the whole 1amp at all times....does it? I just emailed them requesting that info..
Also, the plan for the cells are 3x 18650 out of my old laptop battery pack :D
 
You've started at the wrong end .... find out how much current you need, at what voltage, and for how ... then design the battery (based on how long you need to provide power without any charge input) - then design the charging system.
 
Sean said:
You've started at the wrong end .... find out how much current you need, at what voltage, and for how ... then design the battery (based on how long you need to provide power without any charge input) - then design the charging system.

unfortunately,the CCTVwireless cameras don't really have much info on it... with that been said the power supply that it came with says 12v 1amp...
 
You can either assume it takes 1A constantly, and build a larger capacity battery than you really need, or you could measure the actual consumption, and design based on that .....

I think you are wasting your time with those PV cells, a single much larger panel of around 30 watts (at least) might be a better plan.
 
CCTV cameras usually have the higest loading due to the IR LED's and this is where all the power goes, if the camera can be configured and alternative light source is available (or night vision not needed) then dissable the IR and you may end up with under 3W loading. Peak with LED's may be around 9W at a guess based on the cameras I have used in the past (foscam, edimax, plus other non recognisable brand names).

3W loading, 12hrs winter nights (conservative) = 36Wh storage... minimum.... (excluding losses)
2.2Ah recycled @ 3.6V = 7.9Wh per cell
Minimum cells for 1 night = 5 (4.5)
Minimum setup 3s2p.
If you have to cope with 9W then tripple this to start off with.

Daytime charging with output at 3Wh per W capacity (very optimistic average)
15W panel = 45Wh
Dull day output will be below 1Wh per W of capacity,
 
I have 4 lorex 4k hardwired cctv cameras running. On average for a 24 hr period they use .11kwh or 110wh of power to run all 4. The power supply can output more but that is all that it needs to run the cameras. The 24 hour average includes the 5watt total increase for the 4 cameras to turn on the IR.
 
Not sure if this is helpful or not, I tried the same task several years ago and the size of the solar panels and batteries required per camera just didn't make it worth while.

However, that was several years ago when cameras and resolution was not the best.

Below is a link to solar powered wifi camera on amazon, there are several units out there you may want to look at whats available.


https://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-lis...?ie=UTF8&condition=all&qid=1552185911&sr=8-52
 
Back
Top