200w panel not enough to power a camera

[kchsu8]

In NYC, I've been getting tickets from the city because someone kept dumping trash on my sidewalk. So I researched and set up a remote camera.
My current setup:

2x 100w renegy 12v panels wired in series (about 30' from controller)
smartsolar 75/15 controller
1 home-depot flooded 12v 110ah battery. got a second just now, yet to hookup.
load is just 1 IP camera and 1 cellular modem. Running 24hr/day. consumption 120w total daily.
controller/modem housed in a 4' plastic container with lit that someone dumped on my sidewalk ( thank you).

As I was monitoring the performance of the setup, I notice I am not getting enough power to replenish the 120w daily consumption.
I tried moving the panels, but there is just too many apartment building around, and with winter sun at max 25 degree, I am not just getting that much.
I think probably only about half hour of direct sun. Rest of the time the panels are just collecting in the shades of buildings around me (10w).

For now I reduced it to run 4 hours a day ( via vitron's streetlight, turn-on-after-dusk ). It's really crippled and I want to add a second camera so I can see both directions of the sidewalk.

So I am thinking I need to size up the system for the winter case.

I was thinking of setting up another string of panel/controller with one or two used 20v panels (for cost, and recycle), but having a hard time finding someone willing to sell just a couple. Minimal is 10 panels.

Alternatively, I can buy another 2 renegy panels, convert to 24v battery, and use the vitron 75/15 for 2s2p.

What would you recommend?

Thanks for any suggestions!

 

[rmaddy]

4 100W panels in 2S2P on a 24V battery would work with the 75/15. What is the rated Voc of each panel? It needs to be at least 16V so in series you get at least 32V to charge a 24V battery.

400W for 30 minutes would be 200Wh. That would be enough to replenish the 120Wh being used by your camera. But getting 400W out of 400W of panels isn't going to happen unless you can mount them perfectly angled into the sun during those 30 minutes. You just need to make sure you can get 240W out of the 400W of panels during the 30 minutes to replace the 120Wh used.

BTW - I'm assuming you meant your camera and modem use 5W total. 5W x 24h is 120Wh. You said 120W. The daily consumption would be in watt hours (Wh).

 

[Bud Martin]

120W or 120Whr?
I think OP needs to clarify about the power, each device uses, 5W total for the devices seems to be very low.
How does OP come up with 120W?

 

[kchsu8]

Thanks for Voc comment. Voc=22 so it should be ok.

Sorry for the confusion. Modem is KuWFi 300. The camera is Reolink 820a. Spec says 10w max. But I measured 4w when using POE at home (with killawatt). Installed, Vitron app says 5w total consumption (through the load port). Daily consumption is 120wh, yields varies from 20-140wh, both values from vitron app.

Yes my challenge is to get enough sun. I see most of the calculations are assuming STC but I didn't realize how little I would get until it's put together. Vitron says it collects from 20 to 140 wh daily (thank for you correcting my terminology). I tried moving the panels around, adjusting the angles etc. Only see marginal improvement. Btw, for the panel mount, I am re-using some metal bunk bed frames that someone donated to my sidewalk, to keep the cost down. One other possibility I haven't tried is to move the panels really far back, say 75' from the controller. The NYC backyard setback rules let a bit more sun in there, but I would have to run 10awg 75' (yes?) Or maybe I need to move the controller to the back, and run longer cat5 to the camera(s) at the front. Not sure how the 12v camera power would survive the 100' awg 24 route (camera was POE, but I made a custom cat5 cable to have both signal and 12v power instead of 48vPOE). I think I have enough cat6 (23 awg) also if required.

I still want to explore the 20v recycle panel option. That would give me the flexibility to add a second camera and a raspberry pi so I can see the battery voltage through vitron's app. And I wouldn't have to worry about moving the panels from time to time to catch that 30 min of sun. I think rspi needs 2w. Another camera is another 4w. So I would need 250wh or so. With my current 200w setup collecting say 70wh on average, another two 20v panels (say 500w total) would give me 2.5x or another 175 wh, so together it's right about the 250wh I need.

So, does anyone have any suggestion on how to source reusable 20v panels cheaply and without ordering a stack of 10 (in Queens,NYC)? What controller would you use for a budget setup ( something like PowMr 60a? )

Adding another two 100w panel would cost about $200 + cables. If I can find 2 old panels for $150 and $100 for the controller, that would possibly allow me to add the second camera and a raspberry pi, even if I just collect in the shade. Is that realistic?

thanks again!

 

[rmaddy]

Check Craigslist for used panels. Paying $1/watt or more for Renogy or other panels is a ripoff. I bought new 3 330W panels for $200 each a year ago. Bought them locally and picked them up to avoid paying shipping.

You can use 10AWG 75 feet between your panels and charge controller but you will lose about 10% of the voltage in the process. But if that location gives you more than 10% better sun then it will help.

 

[Symbioquine]

Maybe instead of a second camera, you could use one or two pieces of mirror to capture both directions with a single camera?

Not sure how the 12v camera power would survive the 100' awg 24 route (camera was POE, but I made a custom cat5 cable to have both signal and 12v power instead of 48vPOE). I think I have enough cat6 (23 awg) also if required.

One option might be to step the voltage up a bit for the long run, then drop it down at the camera. Boost converters to convert to 36v or 48v are fairly common, and the buck converters to go back to 12v are similarly available. Make sure to to test the power usage though - I've run into some that used almost 10w at idle and others that used <0.1w at idle.

 

[kchsu8]

Thanks for the suggestion. I haven't seen anything on craigslist. But I found some possibilities in the Facebook marketplace.

Two months ago when I started I didn't know anything about solar, so I just watched some youtube and ordered from amazon. Now it's kinda working, I want to see how far I can stretch it without too much investment. After all, sanitation ticket is $100 each, and I already spent 2 years worth of fines on this. This is fun though.

Your analysis for 10AWG makes sense. Have to think about it a bit more.

re: a mirror to capture both directions & step-up/step-down, those are very interesting ideas. I will research further.

thanks

 

[Jeff From NJ]

I live in NJ and bought 6 used Trina Solar TSM-260PD05.08 260 Watt 260W 30.6V 8.5A 65" x 39.1" Solar Panels for $65 each, picked them up in Randolph. They are/were on Ebay and that's only about 45 mins. from you.

 

[kchsu8]

Thanks and found it! Google says 1 hour 20 min, but I'll make the trip if that's the only one around.
May I ask what controller you use with yours? I am thinking PowMr 60 if I don't drive it too hard. The bad reviews seem to be trying to push the limit of what it can do.
Thanks

 

[Jeff From NJ]

I'm actually still stuck figuring out the inverter issue. For me, I am trying to figure out if I want to do 110V or 220V to my house. If I go with 110V, I won't be connecting the higher power draws, like AC, and only connect lights and refrigerators. If I do 220V, I could feed my breaker box and be able to power anything in the house, obviously turning off breakers of unnecessary items.

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005003716651983.html - this one does 220V MPPT, 3600W at 100A
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005001845036363.html - this one does 110V MPPT, 3000W at 100A

I hit information overload last week, so now I'm not sure what to do regarding the hybrid inverter

 

[GrumpyOldRetiree]

I live in NJ and bought 6 used Trina Solar TSM-260PD05.08 260 Watt 260W 30.6V 8.5A 65" x 39.1" Solar Panels for $65 each, picked them up in Randolph. They are/were on Ebay and that's only about 45 mins. from you.

I'm also in NJ and am curious how those panels from Randolph worked out for you

 

[Jeff From NJ]

I'm also in NJ and am curious how those panels from Randolph worked out for you

Awesome. No brainer. While I've not fully hooked up my system, the multimeter is showing full power from the panels and at that price, there's nothing to complain about.