Been down this rabbit hole myself actually — ended up doing something similar for the static caravan and a small cabin on the same plot, wanted cameras covering the gate and both structures without running mains anywhere near the boundary fence.
Ended up going with a small Victron 75/15 MPPT feeding a single 12V AGM (100Ah, nothing fancy, Renogy unit I had spare), then running a fused distribution block to four PoE cameras and a cheap TP-Link EAP access point. The PoE injectors were the tricky bit — they draw more than people expect at startup, especially in cold weather when the battery's not at full capacity.
Few things worth thinking about if you're planning this:
- Fuse each camera run individually — a short on one feed shouldn't kill the whole system
- PoE injectors vs a PoE switch — a proper PoE switch is more efficient and simpler to manage than four separate injectors
- Night vision draws more — IR LEDs spike the current, easy to underestimate on your load calculations
- Access point placement — mine ended up needing a short ethernet run rather than being co-located with the battery, which meant weatherproofing the junction properly
The bit I'm still not fully happy with is winter performance — shorter days up here, cameras running all night with IR on, and the battery doesn't always recover fully day-to-day in December. Thinking about adding a second panel but space is tight on the cabin roof.
Anyone running lithium (Fogstar or similar) for this kind of always-on low-drain setup? Wondering if the better usable capacity justifies the cost over AGM for something this small.
