How to calculate energy consumption on a 12V solor system
Hello,
I am trying to operate 2 devices from a Solar/12V battery combination at a location where there is not electricity. Almost more importantly, I'm trying to understand HOW to calculate the power a device will use every hour. I'd like answers to questions below.. so I can get this stuff ordered... but if someone also could point me towards a resource that explains the calculation thing where a simple minded fellow as myself could understand it, that would be greatly appreciated.
Item 1 is an IP camera, Power is listed as 12V DC, 4W (I'm arriving at 4W by averaging IR use & non-IR use over a 24hour period, Camera specs say consumption is 2W normal, 6W when the infrared is on)
Item 2 is a Point to Point Antenna, Input Power is listed as 24V, .5A.
I have purchased a gadget that converts 12V to 24V (Input -12v - 13.8v, Output - 24V,2500mA)
PDF Drawing attached, sorry for the crude images, figured if I tried to make it look legit, I'd be laughed off the website. :o)
My questions are this.
1. I think I understand that if I get a 100W solar panel, and it runs at 80% efficiency for 7 hours a day, I can roughly say I will charge a 12V battery 560watts. ((100 * .8) * 7) Correct?
2. is it possible to determine how many watts the two items above will use each hour?
3. Can I come straight off the batter to power both items? I can't see OUTPUT terminals on the charger controller (like I do with other models). I haven't purchased this yet, maybe it'll be self evident when I get it.
4. If I need two batteries, do I hook them up positive to positive, or positive to negative? I can never keep series and parallel straight.
5. I was planning on NOT using the AC/DC power supplies that come with both the camera and the antenna, and just hooking it up straight to DC.... Bad idea?
If all this really was feasible, and I had some power left over, I would put a little 4 port POE switch in and power a second or third camera. But the one camera is all I'm trying to accomplish to start with.
Thanks for taking the time to read.
SolarInstallation.pdf
I am trying to operate 2 devices from a Solar/12V battery combination at a location where there is not electricity. Almost more importantly, I'm trying to understand HOW to calculate the power a device will use every hour. I'd like answers to questions below.. so I can get this stuff ordered... but if someone also could point me towards a resource that explains the calculation thing where a simple minded fellow as myself could understand it, that would be greatly appreciated.
Item 1 is an IP camera, Power is listed as 12V DC, 4W (I'm arriving at 4W by averaging IR use & non-IR use over a 24hour period, Camera specs say consumption is 2W normal, 6W when the infrared is on)
Item 2 is a Point to Point Antenna, Input Power is listed as 24V, .5A.
I have purchased a gadget that converts 12V to 24V (Input -12v - 13.8v, Output - 24V,2500mA)
PDF Drawing attached, sorry for the crude images, figured if I tried to make it look legit, I'd be laughed off the website. :o)
My questions are this.
1. I think I understand that if I get a 100W solar panel, and it runs at 80% efficiency for 7 hours a day, I can roughly say I will charge a 12V battery 560watts. ((100 * .8) * 7) Correct?
2. is it possible to determine how many watts the two items above will use each hour?
3. Can I come straight off the batter to power both items? I can't see OUTPUT terminals on the charger controller (like I do with other models). I haven't purchased this yet, maybe it'll be self evident when I get it.
4. If I need two batteries, do I hook them up positive to positive, or positive to negative? I can never keep series and parallel straight.
5. I was planning on NOT using the AC/DC power supplies that come with both the camera and the antenna, and just hooking it up straight to DC.... Bad idea?
If all this really was feasible, and I had some power left over, I would put a little 4 port POE switch in and power a second or third camera. But the one camera is all I'm trying to accomplish to start with.
Thanks for taking the time to read.
SolarInstallation.pdf
Robert Ornelas
contact this guy and he can help you out, this is who i use for offgrid camera setups, robert@wind-sun.com the company name is Northern Arizona Wind & Sun. For 2 cameras with a point to point bridge i had to use 4 batteries and 4 solar panels in central ca. Or conct this company this is where i got my home solar stuff they are good to work with as well https://www.bluepacificsolar.com/
Here is a work sheet that will help you out with calculations
off-grid-daily-load-worksheet.xlsx
off-grid-daily-load-worksheet.xlsx
ASKER
Hmmm..... Not quite what I'm looking for. I want to know how to do this myself, not hire someone in AZ. Also the spreadsheet you provided is all about appliances that use AC voltage, doesn't mention anything involving DC current that I can see.
Use the last thing on the worksheet the cell phone and just change the entries to what your devices consume. And dont conect them straight to the battery as the amperage would be too high. ill run the calcs for you give me a few mins.
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my mistake dbrunton i had amperage in my head so thats what i typed thanks for the correction. i know unifi equipment is sensitive as to what its plugged into.
ASKER
I didn't see an attached quote
Forgot to upload ill attach it later im driving right now.
Here is the quote with the info.
Est_2081_from_Northern_Arizona_Wind_.pdf
Est_2081_from_Northern_Arizona_Wind_.pdf
ASKER
Thanks for info. That's quite a bit out of the range I'm looking at. I think I should be able to accomplish what I need to do with a 100w panel, a controller, maybe two batteries and an inverter. But I'm not 100% sure.
I'm going to leave this question open for another day or so, just to see if anyone else has anything to offer.
btw, you might want to pull that attachment down. It has some personal info on it.
Thanks again
I'm going to leave this question open for another day or so, just to see if anyone else has anything to offer.
btw, you might want to pull that attachment down. It has some personal info on it.
Thanks again
Here is a wiring diagram that will help you when it comes time to install your system. and a link to download a viewer to open it.
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=35811
SolarWiringDiagram2013.08.28.vsd
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=35811
SolarWiringDiagram2013.08.28.vsd