So its been a week since I left the Jackery and panels set up at the Beta Site and left Starlink running off it so I can get live camera feeds from up there. How has that worked out, you ask?
TL;DR: awesome.
The first three days of the week were rainy and virtually sunless. As a result, the Jackery hit a low of 51% charge. After that, the sun came out and that brought it up into the mid-70% range, then 80%, and for the last two days its beein in the 93-100% range. So, for that entire length of time, Starlink was consistently running 24/7. Because there was active internet there the whole time, I could check the battery charge as often as I wanted and get real-time metrics. Here’s a few screenshots from the Jackery app:
As you can, at this particular moment in time the Starlink was drawing 17 watts. It’s draw fluctuates anywhere from 10 to 35 watts depending on how much data is going as opposed to just ‘standing by’ with the cameras off. However, what this seems to indicate, and Im an idiot in regard to electricity so perhaps Im being naive, is that for about every one hour of sunlight I’m getting about ten hours of internet.
In addition to the information shown above, it also tracks historical energy input from the panels. Observe:
SO, long story short, this was enough to let me remotely access the two remote wireless cameras I had set up. Each individual camera came with a small solar panel to power it’s internal battery. I replaced the came-with-it panel with something a little larger becase nothing kills like overkill. At one point during the three days of rain the cameras got down to about 60% charge but once the sun started doing its thing theyve been in the high 90%’s ever since.
Because I’m concerned about battery conservation, I havent left these cameras running 24/7. I just check them a couple times a day to see how the weather is up there. Because they are not running 24/7, the individual cameras seem to be doing a good job of staying ‘topped off’.
One issue I’ve had is that as I was placing a second camera, I was limited by the range of the wifi connection from the Starlink. If I’m going to continue this project, I need to move the Starlink to a location that is withing range of both cameras.
Speaking of cameras. It turns out that CostCo sells the same brand of camera but the next higher grade for only $20 more than the ‘entry’ camera from this brand that I picked up. DIfference? Separate zoom lens, remote control floodlight, and a bunch of other nice features. Absolutely worth the $20 difference, hands down. CostCo is selling it at $119, and Amazon has it currently for $139.
Unfortunately, as much fun as I am having with this, it’s going to have to come to an end soon. It appears that the Jackery battery is of the type that does not do well with being recharged when it is below freezing. What this means is that if I want to continue this fun over the winter, I need to put together a battery/charging system that uses batteries that are indifferent to being discharged/charged at temperatures below freezing.
This isn’t a flaw with the Jackery…it’s not marketed as an all-season outdoor product. Its marketed as a camping and blackout sort of gear. In those capacities, it seems to be excellent. For my purposes, its great for use during the summer months but for winter use I’m going to have to come up with something else. And, yes, the make self-heating lithium batteries but heating via electricity is incredibly inefficient and high draw.
Over the winter the batteries would be sitting in the unheated conex, so any battery solution must be predicated on that kind of environment. More research awaits.
But, in the meantime, I’m really enjoying how this is working out so far. If I lived in a place where freezing temps were not an issue, like the southern states, I’d totally have this setup going all the time.
I’ll be heading up to the Beta Site tomomrrow to install a third webcam over the area where the bears have been munching that dead mule deer. I’m exceited to see if I can get some live-action bear cam.
AGM lead acid gel batteries are able to handle temperatures down to -20F and lower, although their capacity will be reduced. Lead acid batteries do best when they are fully charged and worst when they are discharged below 50%. Plan for 3x the capacity that lithium would use, that way you are doing discharges of less than 20% and the cells will last much longer.
The solar panels need to be higher than the snow level, and protected. Perhaps a large box with a glass front for each panel to sit inside?
I had a solar system in the ’90s with lead acid batteries outside. They gave no problems with temperatures below freezing. I operated my house (no heat or air) on the system for about six years without replacing the golf cart batteries. I also built a solar powered pontoon boat with golf cart batteries and had no problem.
A live action bear camera should catch some good footage. Have to see what they are doing.
How far below grade do you have to go to stay above 33F? Dig a hole, insert large diameter plastic pipe (capped at the bottom to keep moisture out, sealed at the top for same), insert battery and wiring, install cap, install insulated cover, install 12″ dirt over cover.
Would that work?
How about another small tank, buried below frost line, containing all the “can’t let it freeze” stuff. Random thought: compost produces heat as it decomposes; would a layer of compost under the tank generate enough heat the keep contents above 33F?
Regardless of what battery technology you chose, you are going to be limited by the snow build up on your solar panels. Snow covered panels can’t produce electricity. Of course you could always mount your panels vertically instead of at a optimum angle but then this requires installing more panels to make up for loss in production. Decisions, decisions………. Everything is a trade-off ultimately requiring spending more money.
I was wondering, if polycarbonate panels erected in an A frame over the solar panels would deflect snow enough for it to slide off and if there would be any efficiency reduction through light refraction/prism effect? The south side of the poly ‘tent’ would probably have to have to be mounted on the edge of the conex, so snow might slide off and keep panels relatively clear of snow. Freezing rain of course could be a major blockage problem. Anyway, just a thought I had.
I really appreciate you publishing your journey on this and also the comments from the others who know about the solar generation. Thank you all.
Might want to look into a mesh setup of wifi. Extend range nicely with small units that could be battery powered. https://www.tp-link.com/us/mesh-wifi/ explains how it works.
Take a look at an Aerogel blanket, the stuff used by NASA to keep spacecraft electronics warm. https://www.buyaerogel.com/
You already have a way to keep the battery warm. Remember when you buries the tank in the ground. How cool is was on a 100° day, it will be warm when it’s cold. I would get a Wi-Fi thermometer to keep an eye on the temp. If need be build an open bottomed foam box to help insulate. The ground temp at the bottom of the tank will rise into the box. I have built several boxes to keep stuff from freezing out of 2″ thick sheet foam.
You will need to build a mount for the solar panels. One with a shed roof to keep the snow off. If you’re planning to change the angle of your photovoltaic panels twice per year, the most efficient angle is 22.6° facing south in summer months and 60.2° facing south in winter months.
Zero, Good week of numbers, thanks for those. Three sunless days, Starlink stayed up, pack bottomed at 51% and climbed back. That’s what a Jackery is for.
Your winter read is right. The failure mode isn’t “lithium hates cold.” LiFePO4 will discharge below freezing. What you must not do is charge it below about 32 °F. On an unattended solar site the BMS either blocks charge and the pack dies, or charge goes into a cold pack and you lose capacity. Self-heating batteries are not a 24/7 space heater; the pads only run until the cells can accept charge. Still a different tool than leaving this Jackery in an unheated conex.
Snow on the glass will beat any chemistry. Steep tilt and height above the drift matter more than a cover. Cameras on their own panels, checked a couple times a day, is the right load discipline — do the same with Starlink if you can.
You might – might – find this interesting: Planning Off-Grid Power for
Remote Telecom Sites (https://www.clearbluetechnologies.com/resources/planning-off-grid-power-telecom). Cell sites have a bigger budget than yours, but maybe there is a nugget there. They offer turnkey engineering evaluation.
Enjoy the bear cam while September lasts.
Phillip
Sure appreciate you taking us along as this project combines technology and the outdoors, topics that clearly interest a lot of your readers.
I think your solar solution, at least for now, will be increasing the number of panels and mounting them so they are oriented southward but also can be tilted from 90 degrees (flat) to absolutely vertical. There are lots of technologically modern nations in cold, snowy parts of the world, so tips on this must be available. But I do think that’s going to be the simplest solution to solar charging at that time of year. Long term, it may turn out that wind turbines in the winter and a creek generator in the summer might be better. Somebody is years ahead with such research; it’s just a matter of finding that somebody.
The other hurdle, obviously, is storage, the batteries. Old-school flooded lead-acid batteries and the newer AGM models do better below freezing, but like the solar panels their efficiency is much reduced. You can offset that with enough dollars, if you choose. You might check out these two Will Prowse YouTube vids:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EaiwxDUY9ho
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G8uYFChRg_8&utm_source=copilot.com
It would be easy to look at this phase of the project and decide that it’s far, far too much money to invest just to watch wildlife. On the other hand, should you truly need the site for bugout or retirement, I think everything you learn now will be returned in spades. And who knows, maybe what you learn will be enough in demand that it could become a side hustle in off-grid consulting. People with money might gladly pay if what you learn saves them enough in time and cost.
Ditto the comments about sharing with all of us. Thanks! Save me some research/troubles on the same kinda project.
I too like the idea of burying your batteries. Put in a tube-vent or P-trap or something to exhaust gasses, good to go.
The starlink uses battery power to melt ice and snow on itself, too. Check the settings, I don’t know how controllable it is – ours is wired to the house, so usage isn’t a concern…. Might be worth positioning the antenna under a cover of some sort of keep snow off it (if your angle allows).