Permanent Trail Camera Power Project

[IkemanTx]

Here she is…. Silicone is drying, and once that is firmed up, I will hang one in the back yard and try them out. It won’t be this morning, because storms are rolling through.

https://youtube.com/shorts/NtZiSi9ryBQ?feature=share

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[IkemanTx]

Well. I couldn’t wait until clear skies. The storm moved mostly past, so I put one up. I have a couple cords on order specifically for these 2 solar boxes that will be sponge painted to match, so ignore the jet black extra thick cord.

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[cheech53]

Well. I couldn’t wait until clear skies. The storm moved mostly past, so I put one up. I have a couple cords on order specifically for these 2 solar boxes that will be sponge painted to match, so ignore the jet black extra thick cord.

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I assume no batteries in camera, do you plan on keeping a record of solar batteries power with just 10 batteries = 12volts will keep up on cloudy over cast days and through the nights . Your battery pack will fluctuate between 12 and 14 volts using NiMH that’s 1.2 to 1.4 volt per battery and you probably have your buck converter set to 12 volts

 

[IkemanTx]

I assume no batteries in camera, do you plan on keeping a record of solar batteries power with just 10 batteries = 12volts will keep up on cloudy over cast days and through the nights . Your battery pack will fluctuate between 12 and 14 volts using NiMH that’s 1.2 to 1.4 volt per battery and you probably have your buck converter set to 12 volts

I’m only running no internal batteries at home to see how well the packs hold up. I have it on max settings in the yard so the dogs will trigger as many videos as possible. With the Gen 1 solar setup, i was able to fill a 128gig memory card in about a week using the same test. I already have almost 400 videos in the last 24 hours, which is about half of my average for a 6-9 month set. I’m kind of considering this a torture test before deploying into the woods.

The 2,800MaH 12V pack alone should last months without the solar added, assuming external power usage is as efficient as it is for internal batteries.

With a set of 8- 3,300mah AA’s in one of these cameras, I can easily get 6-9 months of power. Add a 2,800mah 12 volt pack to that and I should get over a year, add the solar panel to that and I should be almost indefinite. In full sun, this panel should run about 125mA which would require about 26 hours to charge the pack from 20%-100%. Let’s call it 35 hours of full sun equivalent to make up for resistance loss. I am confident that in the few months (minimum) the battery would take to discharge down to 20% that the panel will receive at least 35 hours total of full sun equivalent exposure. Heck, I only need to average 1 hour a day to beat those requirements.


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[cheech53]

I’m only running no internal batteries at home to see how well the packs hold up. I have it on max settings in the yard so the dogs will trigger as many videos as possible. With the Gen 1 solar setup, i was able to fill a 128gig memory card in about a week using the same test. I already have almost 400 videos in the last 24 hours, which is about half of my average for a 6-9 month set. I’m kind of considering this a torture test before deploying into the woods.

The 2,800MaH 12V pack alone should last months without the solar added, assuming external power usage is as efficient as it is for internal batteries.

With a set of 8- 3,300mah AA’s in one of these cameras, I can easily get 6-9 months of power. Add a 2,800mah 12 volt pack to that and I should get over a year, add the solar panel to that and I should be almost indefinite. In full sun, this panel should run about 125mA which would require about 26 hours to charge the pack from 20%-100%. Let’s call it 35 hours of full sun equivalent to make up for resistance loss. I am confident that in the few months (minimum) the battery would take to discharge down to 20% that the panel will receive at least 35 hours total of full sun equivalent exposure. Heck, I only need to average 1 hour a day to beat those requirements.


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Sounds good keep us updated

 

[IkemanTx]

Well, I have left the camera on max settings in the back yard for 72 hours. We have 2 dogs that are constantly back there, and one of them is a GSP that runs continuous laps around the yard. That has run the camera harder than any public land camera setup I could ever dream to set up. Over 800 videos recorded in ultra mode in just 72 hours with zero internal batteries.

My goal with this test was to see how long it would take of intense usage for the battery in the box to be depleted… assuming the solar panel wouldn’t keep up with demand like this. I was proven wrong…. The panel is more than capable of keeping up with the toughest of demands in full sun. With the excellent low light performance of this panel, I could be in dense canopy forest and still trickle charge a feeder setup, not to mention the low draw of one of my typical public land cameras.

72 hours, 800+ videos, and the nominal voltage of the battery pack (with solar panel covered so as not to cheat) was 12.7v….. almost 100% charged for a 10S NiMh pack.

Honestly, I am blown away with the performance of these units. I honestly thought I would be down around 10 volts by now with how hard the camera is running.


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[cheech53]

Well, I have left the camera on max settings in the back yard for 72 hours. We have 2 dogs that are constantly back there, and one of them is a GSP that runs continuous laps around the yard. That has run the camera harder than any public land camera setup I could ever dream to set up. Over 800 videos recorded in ultra mode in just 72 hours with zero internal batteries.

My goal with this test was to see how long it would take of intense usage for the battery in the box to be depleted… assuming the solar panel wouldn’t keep up with demand like this. I was proven wrong…. The panel is more than capable of keeping up with the toughest of demands in full sun. With the excellent low light performance of this panel, I could be in dense canopy forest and still trickle charge a feeder setup, not to mention the low draw of one of my typical public land cameras.

72 hours, 800+ videos, and the nominal voltage of the battery pack (with solar panel covered so as not to cheat) was 12.7v….. almost 100% charged for a 10S NiMh pack.

Honestly, I am blown away with the performance of these units. I honestly thought I would be down around 10 volts by now with how hard the camera is running.


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It look like the 10 NiMH batteries will last some what a good length of time with no solar charge, At 12.7 volts is 1.27 per cell that’s the range the NiMH will hold for about 80% of there charge then drop right of. Not like a alkaline . Your power pack will probably last indefinitely with the solar setup. Maybe one day you’ll put your power pack build on YouTube , thanks for the update

 

[yoderjac]

It look like the 10 NiMH batteries will last some what a good length of time with no solar charge, At 12.7 volts is 1.27 per cell that’s the range the NiMH will hold for about 80% of there charge then drop right of. Not like a alkaline . Your power pack will probably last indefinitely with the solar setup. Maybe one day you’ll put your power pack build on YouTube , thanks for the update

I'm sure that battery pack will last a long, long time depending on programming and use. I do question if that small solar panel will sustain it. I think of the battery pack as a buffer. It needs to store enough energy to sustain operations until that energy can be restored by the panel. If a panel is mounted in full sun, it can produce a certain amount of energy over a day. Then you have to factor in cloudy days and storm fronts when the panel is providing little if any charging power.

With a camera that is not transmitting pictures, much less energy is consumed for a given number of pictures than with cameras transmitting at 900mhz. With my network of cameras, some act as repeaters forwarding pictures from other cameras. So, in addition to the pictures they take and transmit, they also use power to forward the pictures from other cameras.

My system uses 6v SLA batteries. In my environment, I find that 12ah - 24ah is sufficient buffer capacity, but the solar panels need to be much larger. I use 50-60 watt panels on my repeater cameras. Now keep in mind that SLAs are different then NiMH. If they drop below about 75% capacity and sit there for a significant period, their life span is significantly reduced. I want a panel large enough to top of a 75% battery in a single sunny day if possible. I use PWM charge controllers to charge the batteries from the panel.

It took a long while to balance the programming with energy consumption of all the cams, but they run 24/7/365. An SLA battery will last me several years. I check power levels at night (remotely) to get a valid reading. Every now an then I find one camera battery or another with capacities approaching 75%. When I see that, I do swap batteries, but that has become a rare condition.

Thanks,

Jack

 

[IkemanTx]

I finally deployed my battery only packs in the field with a couple cameras this past week. I never did get around to sponge painting them, so hopefully being over a mile from the parking lot, and being mounted high, will keep them from being found.

The BMS board drained a surprising amount of power in the 6 months since I built the packs, so I will most likely re-design the packs to not include the BMS. I can run a BMS at home while charging and avoid the constant draw. All I would need is to run a balance lead connector in addition to the 12v cord.

One of the solar packs failed on me, but the other is going strong. I found 2 of the cells in the failed one were dead, I don’t know if that is damage from my soldering or what. I will have to order another set of NIMH batteries and assemble that one again. I think I will skip the buck converter on that one, to pull its power draw out of the equation. Im pretty sure the camera can handle the higher from the raw solar panel connection, because some guys run solar panels straight into their cameras anyways.


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