Solar Cameras

During the COVID-19 time, stuck at home with no travel, I upgraded my home automation sensors with photovoltaic energy harvesting. After five years now, I can definitely say this has been working. Practically I'm left with just one battery-powered sensor: it is in a bathroom, and the photovoltaic energy budget there is close to zero (no windows, lit by two dim lightbulbs only very occasionally). All others have been "just running", doing their daily jobs.

But this application (pushbutton wireless switches and occupancy sensors) has very low energy requirements.

This summer I was attracted by the concept of solar-powered wireless cameras. I have a couple of PoE cameras made by Reolink (they are good and do not require any subscription). I was skeptical about a solar panel ability to power a device like a WiFi camera, but - surprisingly - it works. The camera has been strapped to a tree and overlooks part of my property and the bundled 3W solar panel has so far proven to be sufficient. The real test will be the winter months though...

I bought another one - a cellular / LTE version. It came with a larger 6W panel and this one has so far been a failure. One problem is - the cell signal in my location is very weak. It seems it does not help much that the camera is outdoors. When it works, the transmission is slow. But then it went offline after about two weeks. The 6W panel clearly is not enough in my location. The poor signal makes it drain a lot of energy and then I placed it in a location that has very little direct sunlight. I have ordered an even bigger (12W) panel - will see how much that helps...

This application is promising. You don't have PoE (or even regular power) available everywhere. Wireless + daylight is a great combination.