Ask HN: Best self-powered security system? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: Best self-powered security system?

17 pointssimonebrunozzi21 comments

I am looking for a security system (camera, etc) to be installed in a remote location, served by solar power + battery.

Surprisingly, I didn't find anything at a reasonable price that can also offer several days of autonomy.

Anyone can offer suggestions?

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Wyze Cam v3 (wifi) -> Its 35$ with very good night vision ( amazon link )

Make sure to get a SD card for local recording

Then use this docker app to get raw RTSP urls and LAN only -> https://github.com/mrlt8/docker-wyze-bridge

Next use Frigate as your NVR -> https://github.com/blakeblackshear/frigate --------

The wyze cams use about 3-5 watts of energy over USB. This make perfect for using a USB battery bank, a solar "generator" like the comments mention, or any place you can get "usb" power. This assumes you have Wifi, but if you have say a 4g modem, id assume it has wifi hotspot on it, most do. Then you still can connect the wyze cams to them.

If you are concerned about privacy, thats where the docker app + sd card comes to play. You are recording to SD and also RSTP streaming via the docker app. If you are ultra concerned, just block the api calls with your favorite firewall/adguard/pi hole.

I have this exact setup and very happy. Runs on docker, I self host via traefik and VPN into my box for access.

Thanks for this. Wyze cams are a good deal but their cloud offering is confusing.

yea you can totally skip cloud and not pay and just roll your own nvr with frigate if you are comfortable doing that.

I've looked into this a little bit and as far as actual surveillance cameras I could not find anything with a decent sized battery or solar panel for continuous video.

In my case a middle of the road compromise was to use solar+battery game hunting cameras, sometimes referred to as trail cameras. They can use both lithium non rechargeable batteries and have a built in rechargeable battery connecting to a small solar panel. They are configurable to do short videos of movement and/or pictures and work in low light. That met my needs. Some of them have bluetooth/wifi for monitoring from a short distance but I have never tried using that feature.

If you look for these on Amazon, use care. Some of the sellers are paying people for 5 star reviews.

I had a Reolink Go 4G + solar panel addon, and it worked perfectly fine for spring, summer and autumn at my location (55N). It only got sunlight during the afternoon due to shade from trees, but it was enough to keep the battery fully charged.

Once winter came and it got below freezing the battery level quicky dropped, but that may have been more to do with the cold than the lack of sun. It was only rated down to 0C, so I wasn't expecting much. After winter once there was more sun and it got warmer it started working again perfectly.

I have the camera set to record when it detects motion, not continuous recording, and it worked fine for that. It had an IR light but I turned that off as bugs would swarm around it (it was in a forest). The camera was used to monitor people dumping rubbish on our land which had public access, and it worked great for reading license plates.

Most cameras (and all networked ones) contain full fledged embedded boards that draw some serious power. If you need to continuously capture video, a cheaper solution in terms of energy could involve the use of a analog camera plus a RF transmitter, and a receiver on the other side, but this would work only at short to medium distance and of course no obstacles in between would be allowed. If you can't or don't want to go the analog solution, you could attempt to limit the current draw by placing sensors (PIR, contacts, etc) that turn on the camera only when some conditions are met, so that the system would spend most of the time in a off or low power state.

I have just installed three battery-based cameras from Eufy and I'm very happy with the experience and performance:

https://eu.eufy.com/pages/security_forever_power?ref=navi

The cameras I have are charge and use, but should last about six months befire you need to charge again. We'll see. Mine are only active when I'm away and they sense activity so that should help.

They have cameras with solar panel and 4G. If they have an external battery I don't know.

You may also consider battery “generators” such as this:

ALLPOWERS Portable Power Station 300W / 288Wh Solar Generator Camping Generator with 1x100W Foldable Solar Panel Included for Outdoors Camping Travel Fishing Emergency Power Supply Backup https://amzn.eu/d/aRJHhtp

They can be charged via solar panel, although I doubt it will keep up with demand so it’s more like extending the life.

You mention several days of autonomy, this could provide that if you show up with it fully charged.

I am not sure to understand, are you going for a DIY job, i.e. any outdoor camera + "big enough" solar panels + "big enough" battery + some way to transmit the data (Sim card modem/router)?

Or you mean a product that is already assembled?

Hikvision makes some, but surely they are not cheap, it greatly depends on your requisites, if you want something reliable I believe you need to get something "professional" not the 100-200 bucks ones you find on Amazon or similar.

Possibly a fully assembled product. I will look into Hikvision.

Cheap PoE cameras, ZoneMinder, a mini PC (Atom powered or equivalent) that can run 4-6 cameras, and a PoE switch. Battery time would depend on what your solar charging battery setup looks like.

It's going to be pricey for a battery. That setup is probably 80W 120V AC. You'll need an inverter and step-up, with what I'll guess will be $500+ worth of batteries. You could save substantial energy if you lower the number of cameras and use a Pi.

Trail cams. Very simple solution

The Ring security system may fit your needs. Its sensors all use battery, and it has battery powered cameras as well. They have an external camera that is solar powered. You just have to power the base station with external solar, and it even has battery backup. The base station includes cellular, with up to 3gb of data transfer per month included.

It relies on internet connection for alarming, recording etc. There is a local station selling for near $300, might offload for offline but not sure.

What's a reasonable price?

What about any USB-powered camera with onboard recording and a "solar generator" like the Goal Zero with a panel or two to keep it juiced? If a USB cam like the Wyze doesn't do it for you, power a POE injector and small NVR or internet connection.

We have a pretty elaborate Unifi protect setup and it’s excellent but not cheap.

We planned on building it out some more with solar for off-grid parts of the property. That stuff isn’t cheap either but it certainly seems plausible to run a few 4k cameras on 30W.

You didn’t specify if it needed to be a subscription. Arlo and Google both have battery powered lights that work fine for a week or two

Right. I don't want it to be with a subscription (I will use my own sim card).

Also, I live in Italy, not US.

Remote didn't preclude wifi, but if by remote you mean no wifi and data only, then you want a trail cam as another poster said.

They aren't cheap. If you wanted cheap for this, then get a crappy android phone and hook it up to a solar charger and put it in a weatherproof case. There are apps that will sense movement and send out notifications. Night vision might be a challenge.

>in Italy

JFYI (but check with your accountant), it could be allowable a 50% of "bonus fiscale" (bonus sicurezza).

A dog that barks

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