Off Grid Security Camera System

[AJ11]

Hi Folks! I'm new here, I've been lurking a bit, and to solar. The more I read and research the more confused and indecisive I become. Plainly put I thought I had a good idea after researching for a good bit but now I feel worse off than when I began. First I thought, slap up a few panels, get a couple batteries, and bam I'm all set. Now I have little confidence in anything I look at and put together on paper.

My dilema is I want to run a Lorex N842 NVR system with 4 camera's and a modem for internet at my campsite property. How do I have internet and no power you ask? The location is in the sticks in northern VT and my wife can't live without internet and I'm ok with drinking warm beer(we do use a pair of Honda suitcase generators from time to time for a TT).

Here's where I'm at for power needs:
Lorex NVR rated 8.3W
Hard Drive for it 4.4W
Each Camera is (max) 7.68W x 4 camera's
Modem I'm guesstimating at 10W

Close to 54W/hour and 1,296 per day.

Peak sun is rated at 2.75 for the location

This is where it all falls apart. Here's what I think I need and its likely all completely wrong. I'm trying to keep it on the cheaper side to start off.

8 x HQST 100W Mono Solar panels
3 x UB 121000 100ah AGM batteries
1 x Zenith 60 Charge Controller (this was recomended to me by a contact at Grape Solar when I contacted them about a complete system)
1 x Some type of inverter I'm guessing a smaller 500W would work?

Everything to be housed in a conex box I have on site, batteries in a cooler(it gets -10F easy there) with the solar array on top. It'll have full sun, as much as the area gets, with little shade. Winters are pretty rough with sunlight and snow.

Am I at least on the right track? I'm honestly so confused right now.

Thank You
AJ

 

[snoobler]

1296Wh / 2.75 = 471W

You've selected 800W of panels. Fine.

3* 100Ah * 12V = 3600Wh of energy, 50% of which is usable, so 1800Wh - about 1.5X what you need on a daily basis.

For cyclic use, it indicates your batteries can take a 30A charge, so 3 in parallel can handle 90A peak.

800W/12V = 67A - under the 90A limit - good.

Same calculation indicates you need 67A of charging from the charge controller, but since you'll rarely experience the full 800W, a 60A controller is probably fine.

Don't know about the Zenith, but any 60A units on this page would work:

DIY Off Grid Solar Charge Controllers

Building a vehicle mounted solar power system? Let me help.

www.mobile-solarpower.com

Anything powered by the inverter may use another 10-15% of the calculated energy converting from DC to AC.

 

[AJ11]

1296Wh / 2.75 = 471W

You've selected 800W of panels. Fine.

3* 100Ah * 12V = 3600Wh of energy, 50% of which is usable, so 1800Wh - about 1.5X what you need on a daily basis.

For cyclic use, it indicates your batteries can take a 30A charge, so 3 in parallel can handle 90A peak.

800W/12V = 67A - under the 90A limit - good.

Same calculation indicates you need 67A of charging from the charge controller, but since you'll rarely experience the full 800W, a 60A controller is probably fine.

Don't know about the Zenith, but any 60A units on this page would work:

DIY Off Grid Solar Charge Controllers

Building a vehicle mounted solar power system? Let me help.

www.mobile-solarpower.com

Anything powered by the inverter may use another 10-15% of the calculated energy converting from DC to AC.

Thanks that puts me at rest a bit. I'm somewhere near what makes sense. However I think I'd make a good move by getting some of the bigger 300-400 watt panels after some more reading on here...3-4 of them. It seems that these 100W deals all over Amazon are a bit of a trap. That being said I'm thinking I need an 80Amp controller or so to be safe in cooler temperatures which will be most of the time in my location. Shipping on these big panels is rough on these wholesale ect sites but when all said/done I'm still making out $/W wise. Your response triggered me to dig deeper and I really appreciate the time you took to address my elementary question. Thank you.

 

[snoobler]

You'll be well over-paneled at 1600W, but you can offset it by splitting the array to face different directions, SE and SW - reduce your peak current but capture near your max for a longer portion of the day.

 

[AJ11]

You'll be well over-paneled at 1600W, but you can offset it by splitting the array to face different directions, SE and SW - reduce your peak current but capture near your max for a longer portion of the day.

Thanks again. So if I have 1215W (3x 405W panels) I'll need 101.5 Amps to charge 4 of the same batteries right? I'll need to add at least 1 battery to cover the peak which would be 120A with 4 batteries? But I'll also need a CC rated for 100A minimum under the assumption I'll rarely hit the 101.5A required to charge the 4 battery bank? I guess I'm a little fuzzy on your last bit on the 67A requirement.

Here's what I'm putting together on google docs:

Google Sheets: Sign-in

Access Google Sheets with a personal Google account or Google Workspace account (for business use).

docs.google.com

 

[snoobler]

You originally had 800W and were planning a 60A charge controller, that was fine.

What you have in the google doc is fine. Probably a bit over-kill, but that's better then undershooting.

 

[A.Justice]

I would suggest looking in to powering everything with DC. There are no inverter DC to AC losses, and cameras and modems already use DC. POE can get DC a pretty good distance without too much loss as well.

 

[AJ11]

I would suggest looking in to powering everything with DC. There are no inverter DC to AC losses, and cameras and modems already use DC. POE can get DC a pretty good distance without too much loss as well.

Great points. The camera's are POE from the NVR side. The NVR itself is AC as it comes from the box. But yes I never really thought about the black power boxes that we all plug into AC are actually AC to DC convert anyways. I'm not sure I'm talented enough to convert everything honestly, is it just cutting those boxes off and direct connect? Prob more complicated I'd guess. My runs will be very short, PV system to CC will be more like 5' the panels will be mounted on top of a conex box and the system/batteries will be directly below it inside the conex box. Camera's will be a short run as well. The space I want monitored is pretty centralized because I haven't cleared much space except for a camper, water, ect. I can't say I didn't think about a few longs runs to my hunting spots though, it would be pretty slick to see live whats moving around at specific times. I'll have a short run from the conex box to the the camper to power the modem as thats where its wired to from the "street."

 

[A.Justice]

is it just cutting those boxes off and direct connect? Prob more complicated I'd guess.

More or less. Most things are 12 volt, and normally (check your specific device, of course) they accept anywhere from ~9-16 volts.

A simple DC/DC buck converter or two would be easily able to regulate the battery voltage into something more stable.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B078Q1624B/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_fabc_TW6D82D835FPHTWX4013

I would gander that inside the NVR is one of the "black boxes" that converts to DC. If you take it apart, it should be pretty simple to find the DC side of the circut and solder (or crimp) on some leads that run back to the buck converter.

For short runs, POE is probably unnecessary, and a good quality copper wire should work just as well.

 

[OffGridGuy]

Howdy,

I agree with AJ... 12vdc to 120vac is going to have some losses.

I think the next step is to setup your NVR and 4 cameras at home, with a WattsUp power meter, for 24 hours.

Set the cameras outside, so when they go into night mode and they turn on the Ir sensors, you'll actually track exactly what your power requirements are.

I've been protecting my off-grid site for 20 years, and 12 volts is the way to go, but over the past 2 or 3 years, things have made the effort so much easier.

I've upgraded all my cameras to Reolink cameras. (apx $50 each).

All super low power. Each has an internal SD card to record movement.

When movement is detected, it records the event AND sends me a notification to my cellphone.

I click the notification, it logs onto my network and I view the event in HD.

If I want to save the cause of the problem, I can down load the clip as evidence..... No fuss, no muss.... No NVR...

I've attached a chip from today, my neighbor turning around at my gate..... I was 137 miles away at the time....

 

[AJ11]

I would be safe if I series connect the panels using this Tracer10420AN 100A controller right?
Panels are 49.86 VOC 405W each
Totals in series would be:
149.58 VOC
10.39 ISC



①At minimum operating environment temperature ②At 25℃ environment temperature
1215W/12V=101.25A

After researching a bunch and educating myself I want to stay away from parallel, series is cheaper, less circuit breakers/fuses, ect. I also like I'll pull in more power in low light which it'll be most times especially during fall/winter.

I'm going with the Giandel 300W inverter. Seems is low draw and I like the price tag.

 

[AlaskanNoob]

If you want the simple, mobile, but more pricey solution look into a Goal Zero Yeti 3000. Everything all in one. Hook up to 8 100W panels into it and you're done. You can power DC devices or AC devices from it.

 

[AJ11]

If you want the simple, mobile, but more pricey solution look into a Goal Zero Yeti 3000. Everything all in one. Hook up to 8 100W panels into it and you're done. You can power DC devices or AC devices from it.

Thanks for the input. I looked into those type systems a while back. I think they are a good fit for certain folks too just not for me.

 

[svetz]

$50 Outdoor Wyze Cam. Rechargeable Batteries last 3 to 6 months at 10-20 events per day. Two-way audio, infrared light, local or cloud storage... specs

 

[davidkajohn]

Wow, it sure adds up just a security camera system. It's the darn satellite modem that sucks 80watts 24/7 that is causing the biggest pain :-(

 

[davidkajohn]

Wow, it sure adds up just a security camera system. It's the darn satellite modem that sucks 80watts 24/7 that is causing the biggest pain :-(

 

[A.Justice]

Wow, it sure adds up just a security camera system. It's the darn satellite modem that sucks 80watts 24/7 that is causing the biggest pain :-(

Is a cellular modem an option? They use substantially less power than a satellite modem.