Anyone used a solar powered camera before?

[nbstl68]

I'm looking for a cheap solar powered WiFi camera for a location with good WiFi coverage but no power.
The ones I have found so far are not terribly cheap.
I don't need anything with super starlight capabilities as it is not security use.
It is going to be pointed at a bee hive box to watch activity, so nothing critical and not concerned it if it loses connection for periods of time.
The location I need it for has good sun 3/4 of the day but I don't want the hassle of burying a POE cable.
Doe anyone have any experience with solar powered cameras or similar setup?

 

[whoslooking]

You should look at a 150w solar kit and use a normal IP camera with wifi, and a good utility battery

 

[nbstl68]

A kit combo like that would be fine too if the cost was reasonable all in.
With this scenario I'd just be watching bees...not looking for thieves or ax murders so not a lot of budget justifiable to the wife for that...who already thinks the idea is crazy. It does not have to go all night either so a high $$ solar setup could hopefully be avoided.
What is a "utility battery"? You can run cameras from a battery (DC vs. AC home power)?

 

[bp2008]

How far away from power is the location? I mean would it be out of the question to just run an outdoor extension cord to it?

All-in-one battery powered cameras (with or without solar panels) are very poor choices.

A decent battery and solar setup will be able to feed any IP camera of your choice along with a small ubiquiti nanostation for long range wifi, both powered directly off the battery. Though the cost of the battery and solar panel will be higher than the cost of the camera and Ubiquiti radio together I'm sure. And you need a charge controller, and likely some custom enclosure to keep the elements off the battery and the charge controller...

I wouldn't even know where is the best place to look for solar panels and batteries since I have no use for them myself and I only deal with them because my dad runs a couple of HAM repeater sites.

 

[zebrock]

Just saw this today, not sure if it'd work for you Amazon.com : LXORY Solar Powered Wireless Outdoor WIFI IP Surveillance Camera CCTV System With Night Vision, Motion Detection, Audio, Remote Control Through The Free APP (Android And iOS) And Mounting Kit : Camera & Photo


Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

 

[nbstl68]

The location is about 150' or so from the house through the yard that I mow regularly so an extension cord is not an option.
I could bury a CAT cable as it would be within distance but that would be a lot of work.
I just learned about the need for a charge controller too. Sounds like even a basic setup would end up being several hundred dollars.
Would a ubiquiti nanostation or something similar be needed on BOTH ends, at the house and at the camera? I was thinking a long range directinoal antenna would only be needed at the house pointing at a wifi camera.
The Lxory setup looks like an interesting and probably cheaper option at $200 at this point. I may look into that. Thanks for point that out.

I am actually surprised there are not a lot more examples of something like this. It seems like semi-remote solar camera setups would be very useful.

 

[bp2008]

At 150' a single nanostation and a wifi camera will probably work. You'd want a 2.4ghz nanostation in that case.

Two nanostations is more reliable, but more complex obviously.

 

[TRLcam]

Rent a lawn sprinkler vibrator plow from Home Depot and put in a 150' piece of direct bury cat5. Then use a camera with POE. This solves your power problem and network access problem.

 

[nbstl68]

Just saw this today, not sure if it'd work for you Amazon.com : LXORY Solar Powered Wireless Outdoor WIFI IP Surveillance Camera CCTV System With Night Vision, Motion Detection, Audio, Remote Control Through The Free APP (Android And iOS) And Mounting Kit : Camera & Photo


Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

Just FYI, No Go on the Loxory...It only streams motion to its app or sd card but no ONVIF so can't record to NVR or via BI.

Trenching is too much work for this lpurpose.