In my region the summer kicked in quite suddenly, and for me it means that I can finally turn into life the idea to test if a solar panel can be a main power source for a battery-powered Wi-fi security camera to make it completely wireless, without even swapping batteries all the time or charging it on the base station. This is the question to answer in this material.
Meet our main participant – IMOU Cell Pro Home Wi-fi battery-powered camera. So, normally with cameras working on a rechargeable lithium battery we can charge them up with either plug in a charging cable into it, just like your phone, OR we can replace the empty battery with a full one to make camera continue working on it while the first battery charges up on a base station. And yeah, the second option makes up a completely wireless device, but this is an endless cycle of swapping batteries. Though that’s a common principle used among many manufacturers and cameras of this class, so that’s OK.
IMOU Cell Pro Camera with solar panel is not a unique one, there are Arlo and Ring, Blink, and many others, but it’s not about the camera – it’s about a solution. For people who live in sunny regions and can rely on constant solar energy to power their appliances. So, can we make it free even of the battery swapping endless cycle? Yeah, with a solar panel! So, it has a cable-tail with micro-USB output on the end that we insert into the camera to the power port on the back, and then we put it on the sunny street, pointing the solar panel at the sun.
How We’re Doing It
Demo & Results
And as the first sun rays touched a solar panel, I got a change in the camera’s status in the phone app, which is now displaying that the camera is charging up. A first success on our path! And now you’re going to see a great time-lapse that we sped up a bit to make the result come faster for you:
Throughout just 2 hours that the solar panel has been in the sun, I’ve got a 10 percent increase in charge, proving that it actually can be a complete replacement for charging over cable or a battery swap! But if applied correctly and meets 2 conditions: you live in a really sunny place, and it is always connected to a camera. Overall – Confirmed! Annnd did you know that you can get this IMOU Cell Pro camera on the Pipl Systems Store with a solar panel, replaceable battery, and base station? You sure can! And we also have other battery-powered cameras and video recorders, and a lot else!
