Charging Battery Cameras

jsdebruyn

Just a suggestion for all the battery camera users out there, I have 3 outdoor battery cameras (2) Argus Track and (1) Argus Eco Pro.
I tried the Reolink solar panel (bought 1 actually) and found that the only time such a small solar panel could charge a camera battery was under full sun, aimed at the sun and had more than 6 hours of this direct sun.
To get around this problem (cameras that wouldn't stay charged on cloudy days), I have a single 25W panel on a carport roof that delivers 12-17V (depending on load and sun), ran 16AWG, 2 conductor wire from it to near each camera (all 3 cables in parallel, ask if you don't know) and 3 inexpensive voltage adapters (12-24V to USB (aka 5V) at each camera. The adapters were about $6 each, the wiring about 50 cents per foot (or about $50/100 feet) and a connector pair for each at about $2.50ea. Oh, and a bunch of cable 'hangers' (nail-in holders) for the cable on the side of my house under the eaves. So, probably <$150 total not counting the solar panel which I had for keeping boat batteries charged ($50 back in 2018, now ~$25).
All 3 cameras will stay completely charged with as little as an hour of sun per day and on those cloudy days (of which there are plenty in western Oregon), one or two of the cameras will completely charge if not all 3. This is getting 3 to 10 - 30second videos from each camera daily.
Any interested can hit me up and I'll send you a schematic or wiring diagram with the part #'s of the adapters I used (send an email through Dutchman Electronics website, phone# optional). As to the solar panel I used, I can send the pertinent specs. BTW, for those of you that are DIY'ers, don't just hook up a solar panel to your camera(s)! Most solar panels (other than Reolink's) have a higher voltage than the 5V that the Reolink solar panel delivers. You will destroy your camera without an adapter on each camera to step the voltage down to the USB 5V. Hope this all helps.