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Power and Solar Systems

A repeater that runs out of power disappears from the network. Power system design is as critical as radio configuration for a reliable long-term deployment.

Why solar works for repeaters

MeshCore repeater firmware is designed for low power consumption. A repeater draws very little power when idle and slightly more when forwarding packets. This makes solar deployment practical even with modest hardware.

Sizing your power system

The goal: enough battery to run through several consecutive cloudy days, and a panel large enough to fully recharge on a typical sunny day.

  • Solar panel: 5–20W panel mounted south-facing (in North America) and angled to match your latitude for best year-round output.
  • Battery chemistry: LiFePO4 (lithium iron phosphate) is strongly recommended for outdoor use. It tolerates temperature extremes better than LiPo, has a much longer cycle life, and is significantly safer. Size for at least 3–5 days of runtime without any solar input.
  • Charge controller: Required between panel and battery. MPPT (Maximum Power Point Tracking) controllers are more efficient than PWM, which matters especially on small systems.

Mains power

For rooftop installations with building power access, mains power plus a battery backup is more reliable than solar alone. Use a quality regulated supply and consider a small UPS to ride out brief power interruptions.

Power optimization

  • Disable unused features: display backlight, Bluetooth, WiFi (if present on the board)
  • Set advertisement interval to 12 hours (the default) — more frequent ads increase power draw with minimal benefit
  • Do not set TX power higher than necessary for your coverage goals — transmit power is the largest single variable power draw
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