Intruder Alarm, Storage Compound.

[Riggy]

I guess this will be dead simple for someone well versed in intruder alarms, but I'm not!

A good customer has asked me to come up with a scheme to protect a compound where he stores his hire vehicles.

The site is a former petrol station, still has the canopy, which I thought would be useful for mounting PIR's and a brick built store room which can house the panel.

I would like to have a remote (outdoor) keypad/tag reader to arm and dis-arm the system without having to enter the building.

No mains, so was planning to run off battery(s) with solar panel(s) on canopy roof to recharge

GSM Dialler to alert owner (they have 24hr recovery operation, so have a phone manned 24hrs)

I guess what I'm looking for is someone to give me a list of bits to buy, and from where, pitfalls to look out for, tips from similar installations, etc.

Thanks in advance.

Riggy

 

[Andy™]

you will want to make sure PIR's dont see outside the compound, or you will get 'false' alarms. dont think ive ever seen a IP rated alarm PIR either

 

[Riggy]

Andy,

I've found outdoor PIR's here:

http://www.securitywarehouse.co.uk/catalog/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=86

and I can mount them under the canopy so they would be well protected anyway. Take you point about boundaries.

Riggy

 

[Andy™]

Andy,I've found outdoor PIR's here:

http://www.securitywarehouse.co.uk/catalog/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=86

and I can mount them under the canopy so they would be well protected anyway. Take you point about boundaries.

Riggy

well your half way there!

you may also want to consider a oversized solar panel and extra batteries - this time of the year it will get plenty light to keep batteries charged and alarm working, but you may get problems in winter if the panels cant keep up with demand

 

[Riggy]

you may also want to consider a oversized solar panel and extra batteries - this time of the year it will get plenty light to keep batteries charged and alarm working, but you may get problems in winter if the panels cant keep up with demand

Thanks Andy,

What do you know about solar panels? - If a panel is rated at say 1500mA, is that for 10 minutes in the afternoon on a sunny day in August, or anytime there is daylight? i.e. if I calculate that I need say 300mA (number plucked from sky) to run the alarm, what rating of solar panel would I need to keep the batteries running it topped up in throughout the year in Cumbria? - if that makes sense.

 

[Andy™]

Thanks Andy,What do you know about solar panels? - If a panel is rated at say 1500mA, is that for 10 minutes in the afternoon on a sunny day in August, or anytime there is daylight? i.e. if I calculate that I need say 300mA (number plucked from sky) to run the alarm, what rating of solar panel would I need to keep the batteries running it topped up in throughout the year in Cumbria? - if that makes sense.

if a panel is rated to 1500mA, then the most it can output is 1500mA. the brighter it is, the more you get.

i do not know a great deal about working out this lot, but someone else may. but ill guess anyway

best work under worst case - i.e winter with 6 hours light per day.(how many hours of light is there in winter?)

if you alarm uses 300mA, then it will need a 300mAH of battery per hour. or 7200mAH of battery capacity per day

working on 6 hours light, you will need 1200mA of charging power. allowing for less light, wasted power, extra required in alarm state etc, maybe go larger and go for at least 2000mA, and a larger capacity of battery, maybe 30 or 40AH

 

[Riggy]

if a panel is rated to 1500mA, then the most it can output is 1500mA. the brighter it is, the more you get.i do not know a great deal about working out this lot, but someone else may. but ill guess anyway

best work under worst case - i.e winter with 6 hours light per day.(how many hours of light is there in winter?)

if you alarm uses 300mA, then it will need a 300mAH of battery per hour. or 7200mAH of battery capacity per day

working on 6 hours light, you will need 1200mA of charging power. allowing for less light, wasted power, extra required in alarm state etc, maybe go larger and go for at least 2000mA, and a larger capacity of battery, maybe 30 or 40AH

Makes sense, thanks for that. Have this on me: Guiness Drink

 

[Apache]

you need a little charge controller to stop the panel discharging the battery in the dark

Make sure you use some kind of battery that is designed to be charged and discharged. Car batteries are poor for this. camping 'leisure' batteries are superior.

I have a solar panel charging my electric fence battery