EYE-02 is powered from AC power and it has internal back-up battery. The back-up battery is suitable in case of AC power failure. Internal battery can operate the camera for approximately one day. When you use MIP detector the internal battery can operate the camera for about 10 hours. If you use also internal infra-red light to take pictures at night the back-up time will decrease to about 6 hours.

In remote locations where no AC power is available you can power the camera by external battery. You will need to replace the external battery from time to time. When such replacement is difficult (e.g. the location is hard to reach) you can charge external battery by solar panel.

Powering camera from external battery

Where powering from external battery will help

Monitoring construction site
Let us say your company does construction works in location where electricity is not available yet. You need to monitor the tools and machinery so that they do not get stolen at night. You will use EYE-02 camera powered by external battery. If there is any intruder at night camera will inform you about it.

You can also use EYE-02 as monitoring device. Camera will be sending you pictures every hour and you will see how the works are going on.

Guarding wood in forest
Your company harvests trees in a forest. You need to store the logged trees for two weeks in a forest before you process the trees further. You will use the EYE-02 camera powered by external battery. The battery will be strong enough to power the camera for the two weeks until you transport the logged wood to the saw. If anyone comes to the wood logs you will know about it, camera will send you a report.

Camera configuration

If you decide to to use your camera with external powering, first configure the camera.

1. Save the file External-power.txt on your PC
2. Connect to your camera in www.jablotool.com;
3. Select Settings, Advanced, Back-up & Restore;
4. Select Restore configuration and load the file External-power.txt; loading the file will make these changes:
   Camera will detect motion by PIR detector, this will Wake camera up.
   MIP detector will be Active after wake-up by the PIR detector.
   Capturing video in Sleep mode and Pre-alarm recording will be disabled.
   Such configuration will reduce the number of unintended alarms and optimize the camera consumption.
5. Select Settings, Change data plan and confirm that camera can use data.

You can change the settings in JabloTool (select Settings, Advanced, Detectors). To enable pre-alarm recording of EyeSee follow the steps a. to d., in step d. load the file Pre-alarm.txt.

What you need

To power EYE-02 camera from external battery you need an external battery, battery adapter, USB car charger and USB cable.

Battery
We recommend deep-cycle lead-acid batteries. Deep cycle batteries (also called traction batteries) are more suitable for deep discharge than car batteries. How long will battery power the camera for? This depends on

1. Battery voltage; we will assume 12V battery.
2. Battery capacity; bigger capacity means longer period of powering the camera. Please note that battery with larger capacity is heavier (battery with capacity 100Ah weighs about 23 kilograms).
3. Camera consumption; higher consumption means smaller period of powering the camera. Camera consumption depends on camera configuration.
   1. When you configure camera as we recommend in Chapter 1.2 you will calculate the battery capacity by this formula:

      Battery capacity = Days * 2

      Example: To power the camera for 10 days you will need battery with capacity 20Ah.

   2. When you use the recommended configuration and switch the MIP detector to Always active or turn enable pre-triggerpre-alarm recording ON camera consumption will increase. You will calculate the battery capacity by this formula:

      Battery capacity = Days * 2,2

      Example: To power the camera for 10 days you will need battery with capacity 22 Ah.

   Needed capacity of external battery is higher in the second case. That is why we recommend the first option.

Car battery adapter
Connect adapter to the battery by alligator clips.

Battery adapter

USB car charger
Connect USB car charger to the adapter. Car charger will convert the battery voltage (12V) to camera voltage (5V). You will plug USB cable supplied with the camera into the car charger. Camera will be powered via USB.

USB car charger

Where to buy:
Deep cycle battery 12V, 26Ah – type HZY12-26EV, buy here
Car battery lighter adapter – up to 8A, Pro car BST KUPPLUNG, buy here
USB car charger – adapter from 12V to 5V, buy here

You can also find the parts in Google. Type the address of Google search engine in your country (e.g. www.google.co.uk), select Shopping and insert the description or type into the search field.

The USB connector at the back side of the camera is normally covered by rubber isolation. When you power camera via USB in outdoor environment we recommend to seal the USB connector by silicon.

Powering external battery from solar panel

Where powering from solar panel will help

Monitoring reservoir in the mountaints
Let us imagine that your company takes care of public rivers and lakes. You need to monitor the water level in reservoir up in the mountains. There is no electricity in the area. Powering the camera from external battery would involve a long journey to visit the camera and replace external battery. So you will power the external battery by solar panel. Camera will be sending you reports and you will not need to visit the location. Anytime you can look at the current picture from the camera.

Protecting weekend cottage
You have a cottage which you visit during weekends. You do not have electricity there. Still, you would like to know about any intruders who may break in when you are away. You will install EYE-02 camera and power it from solar panel. If there is intruder in the cottage you will know about it. And you can connect to the camera remotely any time and see the current picture of your cottage or what the weather is like.

What you need

To power camera from solar panel you need the same parts as for powering from external battery plus photovoltaic panel and charge controller.

1. Photovoltaic panel
Sometimes it is called simply “solar” panel. There are several panel types depending on what type of silicon cells it uses. But all of them use the same principle – they transform visible and invisible light from sun directly into electric energy. Solar panel should be able to power the camera for the whole year, even in winter when there is the least sunshine. In months with more sunshine the panel will also charge the external battery.
Find your location on the table below and you will learn how big panel you need.

I_opt =

Optimal inclination of the panel; all locations above are on the northern hemisphere, so the panel is always directed to the south. The inclination says how many degrees the panel is inclined upwards.

P nominal _min =

Minimum nominal power of panel in your location (in Wh a day). The panel will just power the camera in period with the least sunshine.

P nominal _opt =

Optimum nominal power of panel in your location (in Wh a day). The panel will provide power even when intensity of sunshine decreases below the statistical level.

We assume that camera is configured as we recommend in Chapter 1.2. In case the MIP detector is switched to Always active (in www.jablotool.com select Settings, Advanced, Detectors) or pre-alarm recording is enabled (select Settings, Advanced, Advanced video settings) the camera consumption will increase by 17% in comparison to recommended configuration. Then multiply the nominal power in your location by constant 1,17.

Solar panel will provide such power if it is not dirty and it is not covered by shadow or snow . If you use solar panel in location with snowfall make sure the snow does not stay on the solar panel. You can cover the panel by a roof. If your panel is covered by shadow you will need to use more powerful panel. The longer the time of shadow the more powerful panel you will need.

Charge controller
This unit controls flow of electricity between panel, battery and appliance. It also controls that battery is charged correctly.
Depending on how “clever” the controller is, it can also display how much the battery is currently charged, how much energy has been collected from the sun and other values that are useful especially in time when you are testing and adjusting your system.
We strongly recommend using charge controller with maximum power point tracker (MPPT). You will minimize the loss of energy which flows through the controller. Charge controllers with MPPT lose about 10% of energy, charge controllers without MPPT lose about 50% of energy.

Where to buy:
Solar panel (30W) –Victron Energy, SPM30-12, find your distributor here,
Solar panel (50W) – Victron Energy, SPM51-12, find your distributor here,
Solar panel (80W) – Victron Energy, SPM81-12, find your distributor here,
Charge controller – BlueSolar MPPT 75/15, find your distributor here.

Click here to download the guide including appendices.
Appendix 1 – How camera consumption was computed
Appendix 2 – How capacity of external battery was computed
Appendix 3 – How power of solar panel was computed
Appendix 4 – Compute performance of solar system in your location
Appendix 5 – Powering EYE-02 camera in battery mode