Guides
Solar CCTV for places without mains power
A solar CCTV point pairs a panel, a battery and a low-power camera to watch places with no mains: farmhouse gates around Bani Gala, plot boundaries in new societies, construction sites waiting on an IESCO connection. Sized for December's short foggy days it runs all year; sized for June it fails in winter.
Last reviewed
Design for winter fog, not summer sun
Islamabad's December and January bring short days and morning fog that cuts panel output just as nights stretch longest. That is the design point. A system needs three to five days of battery autonomy to ride out a murky spell, and one sized on summer figures goes dark in the exact season when an empty plot or farmhouse is most exposed.
Cameras that suit a panel
Fixed, low-consumption cameras recording on motion with modest infra-red — that is the whole menu. A PTZ or a long-range illuminator drains the battery faster than the panel refills it. For getting footage back, a 4G link works but adds a monthly SIM and its own power draw; on a boundary someone visits weekly, recording to a local card and collecting it is the honest answer.
The panel needs protecting too
To a thief working an empty plot, the panel is worth more than the camera it powers, and it is the easiest part to spot. Mount it high on the pole, use tamper-resistant fixings, and where a site has two solar points, aim each camera so it covers the other's panel. On construction sites we fit pole-mounted kits that relocate as the work progresses, which keeps coverage on the materials store rather than on last month's finished block.
Can CCTV cameras run on solar power?
How long will it run through cloudy weather?
A properly sized system holds three to five days without meaningful sun. Anything thinner and one foggy week in January takes it down — which is why we size from winter data, not the panel brochure.
Can my existing cameras be converted to solar?
Only if they draw little power and the runs are short. More often it is cheaper and more reliable to fit purpose-built low-consumption units than to feed hungry cameras from batteries.
Rather have it done?
CCTV installation means a free survey of your shop, office or home, a camera plan that covers gates, counters and blind corners, cabling run through conduit, a recorder sized for the days of footage you want, and phone viewing working before handover. A four-camera 2MP package in Islamabad or Rawalpindi runs PKR 55,000 to 85,000 fitted.
CCTV installation in Islamabad — prices and scope