Surveillance Solutions Go Solar

SentryPOSTWhile many surveillance companies were advertising the tiny size of their products at ISC West this year – Axis Communications' palm-size “mini-camera” comes to mind here – several companies were attracting attention because their products towered over nearby booths.

These towers also sported wind turbines or solar panels, which their owners said amounted to more than a trendy attempt to be “green.”

The flexibility of self-powered solutions, said Tom Weis of SentryView Systems, is what makes them attractive. Solar and wind power, and generators in some installations that require high capabilities, can allow surveillance units to be placed in areas where electrical power is not typically available – deserts, the proverbial water pump 200 miles from any sort of town, or anywhere where digging trenches for electrical power would be prohibitively expensive.

“When digging trenches, not only is there the cost of getting a permit, but often you have to work to get an environmental variance, too,” Weis said. “If there’s any kind of wetlands, you’re not going to get a permit to dig any kind of trench. This device solves the problems involved with running electrical.”

The company’s SentryPOST is designed to be a self-powered installation for surveillance of areas where it’s hard to get grid power, such as remote infrastructure installations.

Weis said that the company’s engineers usually build these units to suit the characteristics of each installation, based both on customers’ wants and the climate of the area. Customers can put pretty much anything on the towers, including varying powers of IP or analog surveillance cameras, encoders, heaters and blowers, DVRs or NVRs, wireless networks and proximity sensors.

“It can be a blank canvas that you can paint any type of security device on,” Weis said

Based on the power requirements of these systems and the weather conditions at the installation site, they vary the number of solar panels and turbine units, as well as the amount of battery storage installed at each location. The typical installation includes a single solar panel and wind turbine configuration, and a pair of AGM battery packs. More battery packs shore up the reliability of the system, though Weis said that a properly engineered standalone system is as reliable as grid power, which can sometimes go offline due to stormy weather or construction errors.

Though Weis said the interest in the technology at ISC West was “tremendous,” he and his team are realistic about the technology’s capabilities.

“We don’t think that people are going to take down all the systems that they have, or tear the wires out of the ground just to put our systems in,” he said. “Where our sweet spot is is in augmenting surveillance, in getting to remote areas.”

About the Author

Laura Williams is content development editor for Security Products magazine.

Featured

  • Allegion, Comfort Technologies Implement Mobile Credentials at the Artisan Apartment Homes in Florida

    Artisan Apartment Homes, a luxury apartment complex in Dunedin, Florida, recently transitioned from mechanical keys to electronic locks and centralized system software with support from Allegion US, a leading provider of security solutions, technology and services, and Florida-based Comfort Technologies, which specializes in deploying multifamily access control, IoT devices and software management solutions. Read Now

  • Mall of America Deploys AI-Powered Analytics to Enhance Parking Intelligence

    Mall of America®, the largest shopping and entertainment complex in North America, announced an expansion of its ongoing partnership with Axis Communications to deploy cutting-edge car-counting video analytics across more than a dozen locations. With this expansion, Mall of America (MOA) has boosted operational efficiency, improved safety and security, and enabled more informed decision-making around employee scheduling and streamlining transportation for large events. Read Now

  • Security Industry Association Launches New “askSIA” AI Tool

    The Security Industry Association (SIA) has unveiled a brand-new SIA member benefit – askSIA, a conversational AI agent designed to help users get the most out of their SIA membership, easily access SIA resources and find the latest information on SIA’s training and courses, reports and publications, events, certification offerings and more. SIA members can easily find askSIA by visiting the SIA homepage or looking for the askSIA icon in the top left of webpages. Read Now

    • Industry Events
  • Industry Embraces Mobile Access, Biometrics and AI

    A combination of evolving workplace dynamics, technology innovation and new user expectations is changing how people enter and interact with physical spaces. Access control is at the heart of these changes. Combined with biometrics and AI, mobile access control has become increasingly crucial for deploying entry solutions that are seamless, secure and adaptive to user needs. Read Now

  • Sustainable Video Solution Delivered for Landmark City of London Office Development

    An advanced, end-to-end video solution from IDIS, with a focus on reducing waste and costs, has helped a major office development in the City of London align its security with sustainability objectives. Read Now

New Products

  • Connect ONE’s powerful cloud-hosted management platform provides the means to tailor lockdowns and emergency mass notifications throughout a facility – while simultaneously alerting occupants to hazards or next steps, like evacuation.

    Connect ONE®

    Connect ONE’s powerful cloud-hosted management platform provides the means to tailor lockdowns and emergency mass notifications throughout a facility – while simultaneously alerting occupants to hazards or next steps, like evacuation.

  • FEP GameChanger

    FEP GameChanger

    Paige Datacom Solutions Introduces Important and Innovative Cabling Products GameChanger Cable, a proven and patented solution that significantly exceeds the reach of traditional category cable will now have a FEP/FEP construction.

  • QCS7230 System-on-Chip (SoC)

    QCS7230 System-on-Chip (SoC)

    The latest Qualcomm® Vision Intelligence Platform offers next-generation smart camera IoT solutions to improve safety and security across enterprises, cities and spaces. The Vision Intelligence Platform was expanded in March 2022 with the introduction of the QCS7230 System-on-Chip (SoC), which delivers superior artificial intelligence (AI) inferencing at the edge.