I have a Eufy Cam 2C right outside my front door and I’ve been banging my head against the wall trying to figure out a better way of keeping the battery charged without killing the battery and/or having to unmount it every few weeks to charge it.
The only thing I can think of to use is the official Eufy solar panel but here’s my problem. My front door faces North. In the summer, the front door gets an OK amount of indirect sunlight but in winter, the front door never sees the sun.
If I charge my Eufy 2C with this solar panel, will it be enough to keep the camera topped off even though the panel wont be receiving any direct sunlight? Mounting the solar panel on my roof is not an option as I’m renting and cannot drill any holes to the exterior of the unit.
I will be able to mount the solar panel to the same clamp that is currently holding the camera and I should be able to point it east and/or west but depending on the time of year, I might get a little sun or no sun at all.
I have one suggestion… instead of using a solar panel.
This is what I had done with my doorbell.
I bought a long enough USB cable and attached it to the doorbell and snaked the other end inside my home.
Now when the battery becomes low I don’t need to remove the doorbell to charge it up, all I need to do is just plug in the AC charging adapter in my home.
Looking at the 2C charging port the the cover flap would be open, if it’s under a porch I don’t see a problem occurring. But I would still put a bead of silicone sealant not adhesive around the charging port of the camera.
It’s just a thought, and I guess it depends on your situation.
The thought of running a super long USB cable has crossed my mind but I have two problems with that.
I would need at least 100ft of USB cable to run from the camera, above and through my front door, and connect that to the nearest outlet.
My wife already said no lol.
Ideally, I would get a C10 Indoor Cam, get a 3D printed housing or cover for it to protect it from weather, run a super long USB cable to inside my apartment and be done with it. But again, that involves running a long USB cable which is just not an option.
Well, how about this then. You know those battery pack cell phone chargers the portable ones?
You could use that to charge the camera you would just need a long enough USB cable so you can connect to it, you can even leave the charger outside while charging the camera.
But the solar panel would probably be best way to just hook it up and forget about it. If it doesn’t work well charging the camera then you can always return it.