First post here so I hope I’m going the right way about this:
I know Eufy sells a solar panel option for they Eufy Cam 2 Pro, but I was wondering if there is a way to do a supported wired installation. As far as a can tell the camera does regulate itself (it stops charging after the battery is full), and it seems to work while being charged, so that leads me to believe it really does not care whether it’s plugged in while in it’s final surveillance position.
On the other hand, I don’t know if the solar panel option (which is neat but also unsightly for my particular installation) does any kind of smart power output regulation, or if it quite literally is “On for as long as there’s sufficient sunlight to generate enough voltage”.
Last but not least, how does the waterproofing work with the solar panel and the USB being open? Is it a special plug?
Ultimately, I’d like to explore the idea of keeping my cameras permanently wired to power for convenience.
Lithium batteries don’t like being kept at 100% of charge. This will eventually destroy the cells. The cameras do’t do any regulation, other than over and undervoltage protection. The charging device supplies the regulation along with the natural resistance changes in the battery as it charges.
Other than solar panels there are a couple of other options.
Keep the device plugged in through the USB port and only turn on the charger when your device gets low. Some user have smart plugs set up to manage this solution. Requires manual monitoring of state of charge.
Run Cat 6 POE rated cable to each device and use an adapter from POE to 5 Volts. This solution still needs manual monitoring of state of charge to prevent overcharging the batteries.
I have 2 cams set up with Cat6 POE to 5volt adapters plugged into them. When it warms up I will add a few more cams into this system. The advantage here is when I decide to go full POE cameras and ditch Eufy, I can just unplug the adapter and plug in a POE camera. All my Cat6 cables come back to a central location and go to my POE rated switch, so its easy to add an NVR that will serve all my devices.
It’s easy to waterproof the USB connection. I used clear silicon tape to seal the cable into the port and that has worked for over a year on several of my outside cams. Cams with the port on the bottom are better than those on the back.
I have setup USB chargers with smart plugs. That way, I can turn on the smart plug which will charge the camera and I can turn it off when it is done charging.
As stated above, these cameras do not support 24/7 charging.
If you do this option, you have to ensure you are using waterproof options. Most of mine, I was able to run the USB cable into the soffit and then into my Garage where I have the smart plugs. One, I was able to place in an outdoor box/cover I have for a pump for my septic system.
The last one, I was able to fit the smart plug and USB charger into a waterproof electrical outlet cover.
I then used a bit of silicone caulk around the micro USB at the camera to waterproof it.