Not that I need yet another project, but I've been thinking it would be cool to have a camera in the chicken coop that I could watch a live stream from/possibly put online.
Where it's at can pickup wifi sometimes, so I know I would need a signal booster which I want anyway for the carport.
But could I use a solar charger and a small battery to keep the camera powered? Does something like this already exist cheaply?
Sure you can. Easy enough just need to determine how many amps your camera pulls and at what voltage, convert that to watts, buy a solar panel that will do approx 3x that wattage if you want to run 24 hrs a day depending on your latitude and solar exposure, and put a little battery in the system to run it overnight. I am sure there are charts but 3x should get you home. Dont forget to measure amp draw of your camera with night vision on since that will probably draw more than the actual camera.
I did it. Lead-acid UPS battery, two solar trickle chargers, raspi and a webcam:
A real charge controller would've helped, at least one of those trickle chargers was happy to overcharge the battery.
Do you want to view at night ?
Spotlights for the coop or motion detector?
There are also infrared nightvision USB webcams available, like this one:
Yup:
https://www.instructables.com/id/3d-Printed-Raspberry-Pi-Security-Camera/
or buy a fake security camera and put the RPI and IR camera inside of it:
http://www.tinkernut.com/portfolio/homemade-motion-detecting-cctv-part1-software/
add:
https://www.instructables.com/id/Solar-Powered-Raspberry-Pi/
GameboyRMH said:There are also infrared nightvision USB webcams available, like this one:
No price's and $27 shipping, but that's a good starting point.
I already have 20 watts of solar panels, and for the time being, access to 12v sla batteries (fire alarm panels so essentially ups).
I was originally planning on just doing a solar vent fan, but thought it might be possible to turn a profit running a solar powered web cam. I'll have to poke around some more online.
I keep seeing video security systems getting cheaper and cheaper, but they all want to be direct wired and that just isn't possible, but it got me thinking.
Guess I really need to start stocking up on RPis.
Damn is Swype acting up today, sorry if I don't catch all the bad replacements.
Honestly night vision would be kind of cool, but not a priority. I do have a trail camera pointed at the coop in case I come out some morning and it's opened up, but it's gonna take a big or smart animal to do that.
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