Is my setup capable of what I'm trying to do?

[Captain_Claptrap]

I have a 180watt solar panel atop my ~25' tall box blind, wide open to the North East Georgia sun. It is connected to a Renogy Adventurer 30A controller with a bank of 2 Alpha Cell 4.0 batteries. There is a Harbor Freight inverter (don't flame me please) that is providing outlets to power a Reolink 8 channel 4 camera DVR system (power supply is rated at 90 watts but is probably much less since I'm only using half (4) out of the 8 possible PoE cameras). Also plugged in is a 20 watt wifi router. Plugged into the usb port of the Renogy is a small Alcatel hotspot device providing internet connectivity so that I can get instant notifications and video.

I'm a little concerned because this setup worked initially and recorded all night. But over time I began noticing late night video not recording. Now I can see from the video playback that the unit isn't recording much after it gets dark, so there's some storage going on, but not much.

I guess I'm looking for guidance on what is most likely going on. Are my batteries not the best for what I'm doing (I don't know a lot about them--got them 2nd hand). I knjow some of my wiring isn't the best (alligator clips instead of permanent terminals), but I don't know how much that could be contributing. What should I be looking at first, second and third (etc)?

 

[RStone13]

Ok this is rough math.
180 watt panel times 5hr max sun = 900 watts a day input
Cameras & wifi use 65 watt an hr times 24 hours = 1,560 watts a day output

 

[Captain_Claptrap]

OK. So it sounds like I'm roughly at half of the solar panel input power that I need. I have a kill a watt meter. I'll hook that up so I'm more precise on my needs. I understand you are not supposed to let your battery draw go below ~50%, yet my system had been running low to the point where the camera's turned off daily and this was for several weeks. Should I be concerned that I did permanent damage to those batteries?

 

[Northernchateau]

My suggestion is start with the basics first.
I would purchase a clamp on DC amp multimeter. Measure your system at night because I am pretty sure your cams use IR for night vision and it will tell you how much power your system uses including your hot spot.
Like RStone13 showed figure out how much power you need per 24 hours.
From there you can figure out 1st if you have enough battery storage to go for at least 3 or 4 days. (plan for rainy or cloudy days)
Then you can figure out your solar panel and charge controller needs.
I run several Microseven 12v webcams with Verizon air card in a TP link router on solar.
Your system is fine for 1 cam @ 12v and air card but no more.
I have change controller shuts my system down if my lead acid battery goes below 11.8 volts.

 

[iamrich]

wide open to the North East Georgia

Just to confirm you are in NE Georgia, your panel is not facing that way, correct? I only ask because your panel should be facing SW for best performance.

 

[Alphacarina]

I understand you are not supposed to let your battery draw go below ~50%, yet my system had been running low to the point where the camera's turned off daily and this was for several weeks. Should I be concerned that I did permanent damage to those batteries?

Yes, they're probably shot. They were used when you got them and in unknown condition and now you have ran them flat every night for several weeks and only partially recharged them during the day - That's a sure fire way to destroy lead acid batteries. It would truly be a miracle if they ever recover to provide 1/4 of the storage power they were originally rated for. You need more solar panels and you need good batteries with enough amp hour storage where you're not running them below 50% every day . . . . or, you need to invest in lithium. But even with lithium, you'd need to make sure you're not abusing them or you'll end up throwing good money after bad

Best bang for the buck might be a pair of Golf Cart 6 volt batteries in series - That would provide you with 100 ah of useable power overnight . . . . and then you'll need enough solar to put all that power back during the day. You'll need at least 50% or more 'extra' solar to make up for rainy days when you'll get little to no solar production . . . . or you'll end up destroying your new batteries

Don

 

[Captain_Claptrap]

My suggestion is start with the basics first.
I would purchase a clamp on DC amp multimeter. Measure your system at night because I am pretty sure your cams use IR for night vision and it will tell you how much power your system uses including your hot spot.
Like RStone13 showed figure out how much power you need per 24 hours.
From there you can figure out 1st if you have enough battery storage to go for at least 3 or 4 days. (plan for rainy or cloudy days)
Then you can figure out your solar panel and charge controller needs.
I run several Microseven 12v webcams with Verizon air card in a TP link router on solar.
Your system is fine for 1 cam @ 12v and air card but no more.
I have change controller shuts my system down if my lead acid battery goes below 11.8 volts.

Thanks for this. What controller do you have? I may be interested in upgrading. Seems like that feature would be worth spending extra for.

 

[Captain_Claptrap]

Yes, they're probably shot. They were used when you got them and in unknown condition and now you have ran them flat every night for several weeks and only partially recharged them during the day - That's a sure fire way to destroy lead acid batteries. It would truly be a miracle if they ever recover to provide 1/4 of the storage power they were originally rated for. You need more solar panels and you need good batteries with enough amp hour storage where you're not running them below 50% every day . . . . or, you need to invest in lithium. But even with lithium, you'd need to make sure you're not abusing them or you'll end up throwing good money after bad

Best bang for the buck might be a pair of Golf Cart 6 volt batteries in series - That would provide you with 100 ah of useable power overnight . . . . and then you'll need enough solar to put all that power back during the day. You'll need at least 50% or more 'extra' solar to make up for rainy days when you'll get little to no solar production . . . . or you'll end up destroying your new batteries

Don

I had originally had the cams on and recording full time. Once I get back up and running with a decent config, I plan to record on motion only. I suppose that will help.

Just to confirm you are in NE Georgia, your panel is not facing that way, correct? I only ask because your panel should be facing SW for best performance.

My panel is just flat and level right now.

 

[RStone13]

Thanks for this. What controller do you have? I may be interested in upgrading. Seems like that feature would be worth spending extra for.

I like this unit. https://usamppsolar.com/product/pip-1012lv-ms/
Here is wills video

Just buy batteries & panels

 

[Alphacarina]

My panel is just flat and level right now.

Facing the panel SSW and tilting it to an angle matched to your latitude would greatly increase the amount of power it will produce - I would do that first and then increase panels or batteries as the need is proven

 

[Captain_Claptrap]

Facing the panel SSW and tilting it to an angle matched to your latitude would greatly increase the amount of power it will produce - I would do that first and then increase panels or batteries as the need is proven

Ok, I will look into doing this. Thank you. If I do end up needing another panel, is it important to match the wattage of my current panel?

 

[Northernchateau]

Thanks for this. What controller do you have? I may be interested in upgrading. Seems like that feature would be worth spending extra for

175 watt panel, Renogy 20A MPPT, 2 deep cycle 110 ah lead acid batteries.
My system only draws 16 watts peak.
POE is great but it means your converting 12 or 24 Vdc to 110 Vac then back to 48 Vdc.
The system I use runs the cams @ 12 Vdc and then a step down unit from `12 Vdc to 5 Vdc for the TP link router.

 

[upnorthandpersonal]

180 watt panel times 5hr max sun = 900 watts a day input
Cameras & wifi use 65 watt an hr times 24 hours = 1,560 watts a day output

I don't mean to derail this thread or come across as being pedantic, but I believe it is important to use correct units since it leads to confusion otherwise. A 180 Watt panel (power) over 5 sun hours (time) equals to 900 Watt Hours (Wh), a measure of energy.

 

[iamrich]

I don't mean to derail this thread or come across as being pedantic, but I believe it is important to use correct units since it leads to confusion otherwise. A 180 Watt panel (power) over 5 sun hours (time) equals to 900 Watt Hours (Wh), a measure of energy.

It's the mile per hour, gallon per hour, feet per second effect... I fall for it every time...

 

[MisterSandals]

but I believe it is important to use correct units since it leads to confusion

Yep!

Ok this is rough math.
180 watt panel times 5hr max sun = 900 watts a day input
Cameras & wifi use 65 watt an hr times 24 hours = 1,560 watts a day output

Mighty cringeworthy! This only promotes ignorance.

 

[Captain_Claptrap]

So I went and got Kill-a-watt measurements. I'm at 19 watts on the DVR running all 4 cams during the daytime (I know night time adds all the leds, but I plan to disable them anyway). My router only draws 3.2 watts. I think what killed me was the night time leds triggering record by several windy nights in a row before I had good zoning going on.

Facing the panel SSW and tilting it to an angle matched to your latitude would greatly increase the amount of power it will produce - I would do that first and then increase panels or batteries as the need is proven

Considering my measurements, I think I might be ok if I didn't kill my batteries and if I do the tilt as you suggest. Right now I'm just letting them charge. Do you have any particular website you could poing me to for calculating this, or is just Googling it the right approach?

 

[MisterSandals]

particular website you could poing me to for calculating this

Google maps will tell you your latitude. Or just ask Siri, Alexa or any other spyware what your GPS coordinates are. Google will keep track, forever.

 

[Alphacarina]

Considering my measurements, I think I might be ok if I didn't kill my batteries and if I do the tilt as you suggest. Right now I'm just letting them charge. Do you have any particular website you could poing me to for calculating this, or is just Googling it the right approach?

If you Google 'solar tilt angle' you can read a dozen proposals which would leave you more confused than when you started - Summer angle formula, winter angle formula, spring/fall angle formula. Just to keep things simple for better performance year 'round, take your latitude and subtract 3 degrees and you'll do a good bit better all year than leaving your panel flat on the ground. Since you'll be visiting it frequently, you could lower the angle by 10 degrees or so from the number you calculated for the summer and raise it by 10 degrees for the winter and do even a little bit better . . . . but your batteries probably are shot, so if you're still not making it through the night, I'd buy a good battery before I bought more panels, considering how little amp draw you're using

Don

 

[RStone13]

Yep!

Mighty cringeworthy! This only promotes ignorance.

The idea of the post was to get him thinking about his usage compared to his storage. He stated it was a slow death of his storage capacity.

 

[MisterSandals]

The idea of the post was to get him thinking about his usage compared to his storage. He stated it was a slow death of his storage capacity.

Great but when you misuse usage units of measurement and storage units of measurement it is confusing to theOP and everybody trying to learn or help.