M5 esp32 cam with solar charging out of the box

[abdsamad]

Hi,

i would like to install as many people I think external camera for monitoring with the cheapest price

I see this m5 product

https://shop.m5stack.com/collections/m5-cameras/products/esp32-psram-timer-camera-fisheye-ov3660

But I understand If I use it as video monitoring, the battery will drain quickly, I don't want to add external power wire for this camera, so maybe solar charging is the solution

I think people here already think / work on this kind of config

If you can advice me on the combo for have this camera with solar charging without welding and tasks lite this, if you can find solarg charging system out of the box

Thanks a lot for any advice

[jvdpol]

I'm using three timer cams with a tiny solar panel, lipo battery and a TP4056 as a charge regulator.
I've soldered a diode between the solar panel and TP4056 to avoid battery drain in the dark. The camera's are in a remote location, and are functioning more than a month without a problem. The battery voltage is around 4.15 volt, so still almost completely full.

[vitormartins]

@jvdpol hi I liked your solution, can you post any type of complementary information about how to implement this solution? Maybe a schematics of the circuit will help.

[jvdpol]

It's built like this image. My solar panel is a 5 volt 60mA panel. The battery is a 500mA lipo battery. The output on the right (in the image the dc-dc step up, my timercam is connected) in the image connects to the onboard connector of the Timercam. I've used the original plastic shipping case to construct a waterproof case for the components.