Setup for Camera Tower

Hi Folks we are thinking of doing our own Camera tower.
We will have 4 small cameras, 1 POE Switch, 1 Ubiquiti Radio.
We will have 2 100Ah battery’s and 2 400Watt solar panels.
We might have the opportunity to charge the battery’s using 110v for time to time.

My question is what equipment from Victron do we use to make this happen?

Use the Victron MPPT Calculator to find the right solar charge controller for your panels and system voltage.

The Blue Smart IP22 or Blue Smart IP65 would be used for battery charging from AC.

That’s the minimum equipment. Add on over current protection and possibly a battery monitor system (Victron SmartShunt).

Do you want 110v AC for loads specifically or are you running purely DC loads?

As LX asked, do you want 120V or DC? We have quite a few security company customers who use trailers with telescoping masts and stationary pole-mount systems. Some customers use inverters, but we’ve tried to get most of our customers to use DC systems where we can. They are a number of 12V-60V POE+ switches that don’t require a 120V inverter. This reduces cost, complexity, and losses if it’s possible.

Some Ubiquit Unifi equipment can run directly from 48V DC. If you’re not entirely wed to Ubiquity, consider using the Verkada outdoor gateway that can run from 12V-48V DC systems.

I’m sorry to make a sales pitch to you, but if we can help you design a solution then give us a call. I can’t post phone numbers or email addresses here, but if you’re resourceful you will quickly find us :slight_smile:

You need to start by looking at your loads and build the system up based on that.

For example if your loads were 50W total thats 4A at a nominal 12V. So with 200Ah battery you will have about 2 days of runtime with 100% DoD and no losses.

What happens when you get a cloudy week with very little solar generation? Is that likely in your area? Summer vs winter etc.

Yes we need 2 of the 450watt panels for that load, but we want a 110v input to charge just in case.

Yes we need the option for 110v input as well.

We just need the option for 110v in and 110v out to run our POE and NVR equipment etc

You need to size the solar for runing load and charging.

How many watts per day (24 hours) do you need to make?

we will be pulling 45 watts

Ok so not much. Less than 1.5kw per day for the load, possibly 2 depending on inverter system self consumption

Are you wanting remote monitoring for the solar side? Like a GX. or maybe something less complex

no remote monitoring but if it can be added later that would be fine

You can use either 12v or 24v. Both have advantages and disadvantages. I guess it will really come down to cost

250VA ve direct inverter (they have 12v and 24v of these in 110v)
2 x 100/30 mppts if you want to maximise your solar on a 12 system. 1 mppt if 24v
2 mppts if there is different orientations of the panels as well.

For mains charging you will need a separate charger, there are the ones Ed recommend, other good candidates are the ip76, 22 and 43. Shapes and space may have an influence on your design.

Also consider bus bars and fusing. The manuals for the product you choose have recommendations. (All can be found on the product pages)
If you choose 24v also look at a battery balancer.

Batteries and panels you have, so you need to add:-

  1. Inverter
  2. Mppt(s)
  3. Mains charger
  4. Bus bar there are several including some that you can have fuses in.
  5. Switchgear
    At the minimum.

Other things

  1. Fusing and cables
  2. Balancer?
  3. GX
  4. Smart shunt or other.

What batteries are they? You will need to check what charge current they can take as well when considering mppts.