Wireless, Solar Powered/Solar Rechargeable Webcam

Hardware Weather Station Equipment
1

Greetings,

I helped my school install a Davis Vantage Pro2 Plus interfacing with Weather Display (10.37S b140).

The school would like to purchase a wireless webcam (powered by solar or with batteries rechargeable by solar power).

I am at a loss as to how to determine which, given the above parameters, would be the best camera to purchase (and, of course, it has to integrate with the WD software).

May I ask if anyone would be so kind as to make a suggestion?

Thanks so much - the students will appreciate it.

2

I don’t think there is a good solution for running a battery/solar-powered webcam. From my experience, battery-powered cameras are usually for security and only turn on when their motion sensor turns the camera on. But maybe someone else on the forum can weigh-in. I found a good solution to be a Power over Ethernet (PoE) camera in which an Ethernet cable can provides power and comm, so at least there’s no need for a power outlet near the camera. I wrote a summary of my recent experience buying and installing a webcam on WxForum.net:

https://www.wxforum.net/index.php?topic=43546.msg443473#msg443473

3

I tried solar / battery powered security cameras in the past and they didn’t have enough capacity to be reliable. POE worked better for me as well.

4

Thanks to both of you for the information - it is helpful.

Would you happen to know if this camera (with solar panel attachment) will work?

https://www.costco.com/ring-stick-up-cam-battery-(3rd-gen)-%2B-mounts---white---3-pack.product.100572894.html

https://ring.com/products/solar-panel

Thanks.

5

I don’t think that camera would be very useful. It will only record when activated by movement so it’s not a continual feed that you’d really need for taking weather photos. You’d only get a weather photo each time someone walked past it.

6

A while ago Pimoroni announced they would release a camera (envirocam or similar…?) based on pico board with battery power supply. It would run python code. The board would turn on on pre-defined intervals, take photo and store it on the SD card. Optionally it could connect to wifi and send the photo to FTP. Then go to deep sleep.
Target cost with enclosure was set to ~35 british pounds I think.

I can’t find anything about this project on Pimoroni now. But it would be something OP was also looking for.

7

Something like this perhaps - Arducam Now Working With The RPi Pico | Hackaday

8

Probably it is. But Pimoroni suggested it would be packed in a weather resistive enclosure. All one had to do was just upload the code.
I got a bit lazy with years and prefer to plug and play :slight_smile: