Solar Panel to operate camera

[guypredd]

Hello guys,
I have 10W solar panel, a 7000 mah battery and 10A charge controller.
there is 7 hours of light a day
i have 3W little camera which supposed to work 24/7 continually.


in direct clear sun, im getting around 20V from the solar panels (i'm measuring direct the panels with fluke)

i need you guys to help me formulize so i can know if my panel and battery can handle that for 24/7.

Thanks

 

[newfutile]

I would think the solar panel is too small , if 20 volts is measured on a 10 watt panel only 500 ma current will be available, this will require 14 hours of full unshaded sun per day.

this ignoring any loses also you need to find the camera current draw as this is a constant drain on generated power .

i would guess a 50 watt panel may just about do it .

 

[guypredd]

can you show me the way you got the solution? with formula.. i want to know about it more

 

[newfutile]

It’s only ohms law and its derivatives 10 watts / 20 volts = 0.5 amps (500ma), a 7 amp hour battery / 0.5 gives 14 hours. This doe not include any losses or the current the camera will draw

 

[pc1966]

It won't.

Even if you had 7 hours of direct sun per day, that us only 2.9W average over 24 hours so less than camera and no allowance for losses in the battery charge/discharge.

Then you have to allow for the fact that the sun traces across the sky during the day so only at one time when it is perpendicular to the panel will you get close to the rated 10W. Without calculating, I would assume you could be seeing 50% of the rating from dawn-dusk.

So as above, I would suggest you look at least at a 30W panel.

You might find a solar power calculator web site that has figures for your location so you can see the yearly averages you can expect to get from a typical commercial generation system, then scale to what you are planning in terms of small panel, and reduce something like 20-50% for battery losses, etc., before comparing to the camera draw.

 

[guypredd]

how do i check the camera's draw? the camera is in the link below:
please dont mind the fact that camera is coming with 2,200 mah battery, becuase i have got 7000.

Page Not Found - Aliexpress.com

 

[giladabush]

I would love to know or get a recommendation Is it worth doing a solar system on the roof of the house?

 

[pc1966]

I would love to know or get a recommendation Is it worth doing a solar system on the roof of the house?

There are various on-line tools that can estimate how much energy you would get from a solar array and so how long it takes to pay-back.

Generally speaking it hardly pays itself off unless you get a lot of sun and/or have expensive power in terms of $/kWh, etc.

The better calculators also allow for a certain amount of repairs/maintenance over the life-time so you get a realistic picture.

 

[Gavin John Hyde]

why not just buy the ring camera with solar panel addition, we have one set up and havent had to charge the battery in around 8 months. the solar panel whatever size it is does a good job. it records any movement and allows for live view.
I looked into making my own set up but then figured i was over thinking it so bought a ready made set up

 

[giladabush]

The truth is quite a few of my neighbors did and they say it's wonderful, the power saving is really significant but the first expense was a bit heavy.