Re:Raspberry Pi Zero W as a headless time-lapse camera
by mcjiggerlog on Tuesday March 14, 2017 @10:05AM
(#13867527)
Has anybody found an easy way to power a zero via solar? I haven't been able to find any cheap or lightweight solutions. It'd be perfect for a project like this.
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Re:Raspberry Pi Zero W as a headless time-lapse camera
by yardie on Tuesday March 14, 2017 @10:11AM
(#13867603)
There isn't a really cheap way to do it. Solar panels are cheap, li-ion batteries are cheap. A PWM/MPPT charge controller is still not cheap. You can spend $20-30 on the other components and still have to purchase a $70-100 charge controller.
Re:Raspberry Pi Zero W as a headless time-lapse camera
by Jaruzel on Tuesday March 14, 2017 @10:11AM
(#13867605)
I explored this once. The camera actually draws a fair bit of current, so you need big (1Msq) panels to run the Pi-Zero properly and/or charge a battery.
Re:Raspberry Pi Zero W as a headless time-lapse camera
by geerlingguy on Tuesday March 14, 2017 @10:59AM
(#13867973)
Yeah, the only way to get it to work reliably is to also employ other energy-saving tricks, like using a Sleepy Pi HAT and a rechargeable battery. The cost starts inching towards $1k+ at this point (not to mention the time involvement as well).
However, it's definitely doable, and if you have something like a year-long construction project... it's not really that expensive for what you'll get in the end!