Here you can find Solar Panels and technological accessories related to Solar Energy: Click Here If you want to learn about Solar...
Here you can find Solar Panels and technological accessories related to Solar Energy: Click Here
If you want to learn about Solar Panels, to advise you before buying or to build your own Solar Panel: Click Here
What if we were to use a solar panel to power a dash cam instead? Then during parking mode surveillance, the dash cam won’t drain the car battery to record security footage. I will put this to the test with these two solar panels and this VIOFO dash cam. Frakking Creations. Showing you the Good Stuff! Please pause to read the disclaimer. [This video is for educational and entertainment purposes only. There are always risks associated with car work and DIY work, where it can be deadly, people can get hurt badly, or property can be damaged. You assume all risks associated with the use of the information and tools in this video. I am not a certified mechanic and am only a car enthusiast sharing my passion. Always wear proper safety equipment and follow manufacturer instructions for all tools and materials. If you don’t have the proper skills, have doubts, or concerns, consult with official documentation and professionals, or simply do not attempt the work.] Here, I have both solar panels setup outside the vehicle for optimum sunlight. I have the large solar panel connected to this battery monitor so that I can see how much power is being generated or being used. The car battery has been disconnected from the battery monitor because I only want the solar panel powering everything. I connect the VIOFO HK3 hardwire cable to the setup so that I can power the dash cam. But, as soon as I plug in the hardwire cable into the setup, I see that the battery monitor is powering On and Off repeatedly. It seems that the large solar panel is not able to supply enough power to the battery monitor and the hardwire cable at the same time. So, I will have to rewire everything and take out the battery monitor. This time I connect the solar panel directly to the hardwire cable of the VIOFO dash cam and plug it into the dash cam. It looks like the dash cam isn’t able to fully power up. It tries to startup but then resets. I try this many times, but with the same result. It looks like powering a dash cam using this particular solar panel will not work. Even on a clear sunny day with the solar panel installed outside the vehicle. Technically, this should have worked. Now, I’m wondering if this solar panel is even able generate enough power for the dash cam. In our ultimate dash cam parking mode test video, I compared the power usage of the Thinkware U3000 against the BlackVue DR770X and this VIOFO A129 Plus. From there we know that in parking mode, the VIOFO A129 Plus Duo uses between 270 to 330 mA of power. So, if I have a solar panel that can generate more than that, then technically it should be able to power the dash cam. This solar panel is a 12V, 20W solar panel. It is rated to output a max of about 1.15 A or 1150 mA. This means that it should be able to easily power the A129 Plus. So, I test the actual power output of the solar panel. On a clear sunny day like today, it is able to generate 1.09 A (1090 mA). So, we know that it is very close to its rated max output and should be able to power the VIOFO A129 Plus easily. Now, I’m wondering if the A129 Plus is using a lot more power just to power up. Naturally, I next test the power draw of the dash cam on bootup. We see that it doesn’t use more than 320 mA, so this is puzzling for me. I don’t have a larger solar panel to test with, so is this the end? Some of you viewers may be a little nerdy and are screaming at me to combine both solar panels. And that’s exactly what I did next. When the panels are connected in parallel, the voltage output stays around 12 V but, the power output is total of both solar panels. At this time, the small panel is outputting about 40 to 60 mA. The large panel is outputting about 1030 mA. Combined, they output 1.09 A (1090 mA). Interestingly, this was enough to power the VIOFO A129 Plus this time. I’m not sure why the large panel on its own wasn’t able to power the dash cam when it was outputting the same amount, earlier. I want to take a quick second to ask that if you are enjoying this video, please Like and share it to help us grow our channel. Subscribe for more Good Stuff to come! Now, if solar panels can power a dash cam, then why don’t dash cams use solar power? The first reason is the size. Just to power a dash cam you can see that you need a solar panel that is pretty big. Second, solar panels also need clear skies. When it gets cloudy, or if the solar panel is behind a window or window tint, it might not generate enough power and the dash cam will shutdown. Third, even if you have clear skies, the sun also moves across from east to west throughout the day. You may not be able to park with the solar panel directly facing the sun the whole time. And fourth, this won’t work at night. Therefore, the better solution might be to pair the solar panel with a battery. In the next episode of this series, we will see if pairing the solar panel with the vehicle battery is a solution that will work better. The dash cam should now have consistent power. Plus, we might even be able to charge the battery and power the dash cam at the same time! Copyright © 2025 FRAKKING CREATIONS ...
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