Off-the-grid security solution with Wyze cameras

I needed a security system for a roadside shed without power. I purchased and installed a 200W solar system (eBay $210), a 12V solar battery (Harbor Freight Tools $70), and added an external WiFi access point (used Unifi AP from eBay $60). from my house 100ft away. I now have three Wyze cameras in outdoor plastic housings recording and broadcasting security footage.

I don’t have much experience with solar, but the installation was incredibly easy. The selection of the 200W system was an approximation based on 2A/camera power usage and crossing my fingers that it will suffice. If it can’t supply enough power through the dark days of winter, I can just add more solar panels ($100 for 100W 2’x3’ solar panel). Buying through eBay was half the price of a Lowes or Home Depot solar kit system, plus the power conditioning box had built-in USB output ports.

Love the Wyze products! I’ve purchased about 10 cameras so far for my family’s and my parents’ houses.

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Here is my simple solar setup. I bought a 20w 12v solar panel from ebay, I ordered a 12v to 5v 3a dc to dc converter that has a micro usb plug on the output. The micro usb was too fat so I had to order a micro usb to usb adapter then plugged the wyze cam into it.

It runs fine with this setup… but once it loses power when it gets dark the wyze cam doesn’t restart on its own, so I have to go and unplug it and plug it back in then its fine. I have a 10000 mah battery pack that I’m going to install in line to see if that fixes it.

Nice! Similar to my system, except a lot cheaper. Adding more panels and the battery pack should get you an overnight solution. I’m in New York, so I expect I’ll be sweeping off the panels in winter.

To be constructive, power conditioning units are pretty cheap, so you may wish to use one of them instead of plugging in the solar panels directly to the battery & load.

If I understand what you’re saying I think I have that in the voltage regulator it takes the 12v dc out from the panel and drop it down to 5v 3a then as an added buffer the battery pack is load sensitive so it’s going to feed at 5v 1a to the wyze once I install it.

You can get solar power conditioners (12V with 5V output) for <$20 on eBay, but you have to wait a few weeks for it to arrive from China.

Here’s a follow-up for my solar-powered Wyze system: a few days ago I was unable to drive home because of an automobile accident close to my security setup. The scene was horrific (one fatality ejected from the car; one critically-injured passenger crushed), and after checking my off-the-grid Wyze camera with SIMM storage I had a gripping video of the single-vehicle accident. The speeding vehicle veered into the ditch, flipped, person ejected. I made the video available to the law enforcement. Horrifying.