How To Make A Solar Wireless Spy Camera

If you are a green thinker and security beith the criteria then you have two options either you hire a security guard or buy/make a solar powered wireless security camera. The ball is in your court! I would go in for the first as hiring labor here in India is still bearable, but for those living in the West, you still lack that choice.

You can use any configuration of wireless camera, solar panel and battery pack to fit the specific location you want to watch, the ones I used are provided here as a known working combination of parts. These items are all available off the shelf from Fry's stores on the West coat, or through numerous online retailers. The required parts for the exact configuration I used are below:

-Wireless Camera: got this camera specifically because it had pan/tilt/zoom control and audio. Depending on where you put your camera, lowlight performance may be an issue - I may ultimately add a battery-powered motion detecting light to address this in the future. The PTZ camera allows me a broad viewing range from the sidewalk in front of my house to the area directly in front of my door. The MPEG-4 codec provides a clear picture for Web viewing, with the option of viewing remotely from your browser at work or anywhere else on the planet.

- Solar Panel:One key to making this work is having a solar panel capable of recharging your batteries fast enough to collect more power during daylight hours than you actually consume. This way you recover any power used overnight while also powering the wireless camera using the solar panel during daylight hours. Without factoring power consumption into your plan from the beginning, you eventually run out of power and lose your security camera when there is no sun. If I were to swap out my current solar panel, it would be for one with more potential power collection like a 15 watt model.

- Battery Pack:I chose the iSun BattPak because I'd previously used a similar model to provide additional power to a video camera at an on location shoot where no AC power sources were convenient. It has the added bonus of using rechargeable AA batteries, which are cheap to replace and readily available. Because the pack is also designed to charge off of solar, it is also readymade to prevent the solar panel from discharging power when there's not enough sun.

- DC Converter:One convenient aspect of this converter was the set of interchangeable tips, which helped guarantee I'd have an end that matched the power connector on the wireless camera. This is one component that's likely to vary depending on your exact configuration as you need a connector with the right ends for your specific components.


Once you have all the parts, the installation is straightforward. Choose a location for the various electronic components that's safe from rain, snow, or any other potentially damaging weather. In my case, I placed the camera under an overhang. The solar panel should be placed in an unobstructed south-facing location, giving you maximum sunlight collection at all times of year - keeping in mind that the cable from the solar panel needs to reach the battery pack.
Mounting requirements for all gear were simple - everything was mounted using weatherproof outdoor woodscrews, similar to what you might use for installing a deck. A 2-inch bracket from the plumbing department at Lowe's mounted the battery pack securely in place, while a 1-1/2-inch bracket was used to secure the DC converter. Refer to the video above for visual steps to mounting everything in place.