I know this is probably a complete newbie (and stupid) question, but after a few days of searching and trying to get some info on this, I am none the wiser.

I am trying to setup a small (12V 2a) CCTV camera at an off grid property and am still finding my way around the whole off grid power world. I have a LiFePo4 100AH battery and initially had it connected to a small 80W solar panel and the camera plugged into a 3000W inverter using the CCTV camera's native 220V to 12V adapter. But, it seems to be drawing way more power than needed and surely this is a inefficient use of power - can I not connect the camera directly to the battery (maybe with a fuse & switch)? Or am I heading for a disaster here. Any advice or a steer in the right direction would be hugely appreciated.

 

3 hours ago, surfgate said:

I know this is probably a complete newbie (and stupid) question, but after a few days of searching and trying to get some info on this, I am none the wiser.

I am trying to setup a small (12V 2a) CCTV camera at an off grid property and am still finding my way around the whole off grid power world. I have a LiFePo4 100AH battery and initially had it connected to a small 80W solar panel and the camera plugged into a 3000W inverter using the CCTV camera's native 220V to 12V adapter. But, it seems to be drawing way more power than needed and surely this is a inefficient use of power - can I not connect the camera directly to the battery (maybe with a fuse & switch)? Or am I heading for a disaster here. Any advice or a steer in the right direction would be hugely appreciated.

 

Your inverter will draw more power than the camera by just standing idle. Thus via the inverter 2xthe power needed.

Connect camera via 2A fuse directly on the battery. Connect panel via solar controller to the battery. Ensure your solar controller has user settings for charging lithium. I would use a MPPT controller.

On 2022/09/13 at 8:13 PM, Scorp007 said:

Connect camera via 2A fuse directly on the battery

Only if the battery is 12V.... if it is 24V then it will let out the magic smoke. @surfgate did not specify the voltage and with 3KVA it might be 24V

Most electronics are designed to handle some deviation eg my fibre access point (ONT) has a 12V power supply. I use to run it directly from my 12V lithium battery that was anything between 13.5 to 11V depending on the state of charge

Thanks for the advice and guidance @Scorp007 and @iiznh - much appreciated.

The project is proceeding ok so far - but will hopefully be finalised this weekend.

And yes @iiznh I forgot to specify, it is def a 12V battery (12V LiFePo4 100AH) - so hopefully no magic smoke from this project in the near future.

Luckily the subject mentioned a 12V 100Ah battery so the assumption was right. In the text it also stated "a" battery so took that as 12V.

Perhaps for us to remember to use text to indicate plural if more than 1 😄. The same goes to provide detail like ?S?P and voltages, amps and Watts when posting.

On 2022/09/13 at 4:45 PM, surfgate said:

I know this is probably a complete newbie (and stupid) question, but after a few days of searching and trying to get some info on this, I am none the wiser.

I am trying to setup a small (12V 2a) CCTV camera at an off grid property and am still finding my way around the whole off grid power world. I have a LiFePo4 100AH battery and initially had it connected to a small 80W solar panel and the camera plugged into a 3000W inverter using the CCTV camera's native 220V to 12V adapter. But, it seems to be drawing way more power than needed and surely this is a inefficient use of power - can I not connect the camera directly to the battery (maybe with a fuse & switch)? Or am I heading for a disaster here. Any advice or a steer in the right direction would be hugely appreciated.

 

Your inverter will draw more power than the camera by just standing idle. Thus via the inverter 2xthe power needed.

Connect camera via 2A fuse directly on the battery. Connect panel via solar controller to the battery. Ensure your solar controller has user settings for charging lithium. I would use a MPPT controller.