this post was submitted on 25 Feb 2026
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Best option for low cost reliable solar node (leaf.dance)
submitted 1 month ago by zerodawn@leaf.dance to c/meshtastic@mander.xyz
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I'm on a budget and i'm looking to mount a node on a pole in my back yard. I have access to a 3d printer, i have soldering skills, and i'm okay with buying individual components and assembling them myself. I'd like it to look nice but it doesn't have to if that keeps costs down.

The first goal is reliability, i won't be able to easily access it once it's up. The second goal is cheap, i'm on a fairly tight budget. It's possible the device might be in wifi range where it's mounted so that would be a nice bonus.

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[–] roofuskit@lemmy.world 8 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

3D printed enclosures will take a lot of effort to make weather proof, it's not naturally water tight. And the appropriate filament, if you don't already have ASA, will probably cost more than just buying a weatherproof enclosure and making it suit your needs.

You also probably don't want WiFi on a solar node, especially if budget is tight as you'll need a bigger panel and bigger battery capacity to accommodate the significant power draw.

You'd be better off making the solar node a client_base and having a second cheaper client_mute node inside your home marked as a favorite node.

The Rak Wis block boards are a pretty good low power board for solar nodes with connections for a battery and panel already on the board.

Then you could use a cheap heltec v2 or v3 as the indoor node that's wall powered.

[–] bowreality@lemmy.ca 5 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Not sure if that’s low cost enough for you but I highly recommend the Solar P1 (pro) from Seeed. It’s a beast.

[–] deafboy@lemmy.world 4 points 1 month ago (1 children)

I second the SenseCAP Solar Node P1-Pro. I wasn't able to beat the price or quality with my DIY build.

[–] zerodawn@leaf.dance 1 points 1 month ago (1 children)

This looks like my best bet. Batteries and metal mount included really sell me on it. I saw mention of upgrading the antenna have you tried that or felt the need to?

[–] deafboy@lemmy.world 3 points 1 month ago (1 children)

The most important thing is the location. LoRa works best with direct line of sight. The higher you can place it, the better.

Of course, a higher gain antenna will provide an advantage. It will narrow the radiation beam, so it shines more to the sides instead of wasting power by covering the areas above and below.

In an area without any obstacles it will extend your range. In an urban area it can overcome some obstacles by better reflecting the signal off of certain surfaces. Or so I've been told, I'm not a physicist :)

In our mesh, the most popular antenna for stationary repeaters is Mikrotik Omni, 6.5 dBi. You can use any reputable vendor in your area, but avoid the cheap stuff from aliexpress. They often lie about the gain, and can be a hit or miss.

Be careful about the antenna connectors, though! Most of the ready made repeaters come with RP-SMA connectors. The normal SMA, or even the N-type connectors are certainly more popular with the traditional radio crowd. There are adapters, or ready made cables with appropriate ends available.

Then there's the interference. You can have the best location and high gain antenna, but if there's a mobile cell tower broadcasting on a close enough frequency, you're going to have a bad time. This might be highly dependent on the region and the chosen lora band. (433, 868 or 915 Mhz). If you suspect this might be a problem, the RF filter can be screwed in, in front of the antenna.

Hope I didn't scare you. Best of luck!

[–] zerodawn@leaf.dance 1 points 1 month ago (2 children)

The opposite of scared me, i'm more interested than ever but i think that antenna would put the whole project out of my price range at this time. Whatever i pick will be out in rural country side, rolling hills and plenty of trees, and will be mounted up on a decommissioned wooden telephone pole. Would a beefy antenna make enough of a different to justify being added?

[–] roofuskit@lemmy.world 2 points 1 month ago

The higher gain the antenna the more narrow, straight out horizontal, the signal will be.

[–] deafboy@lemmy.world 2 points 1 month ago (1 children)

I once did a connection between this, on the top of the hill:

and a SenseCAP Card Tracker T1000-E, on the roof of the tall office building, 40km away, under the ideal conditions.

However, it wasn't until I've installed the proper RF filter and this monster of an antenna that the connection became reliable in the nearest city and even villages >50km away.

So you can absolutely start small, and if the need arises, upgrade later.

[–] zerodawn@leaf.dance 1 points 2 weeks ago

I'm still a bit green to all of it. Would that antenna work with the P1-Pro? Would that RF filter be helpful to have?

[–] Prunebutt@slrpnk.net 4 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

Some people buy a cheap solar-powered led-spotlight for the garden. I got one for arount 8€ from aliexpress. Already water-thight, with a solar module and a battery.

Then, add something similar to a heltec t114. It's a bit more expensive than a heltec v3, but can actually be driven with a puny solar module from the garden light.

You'll also need to drill a hole for the antenna into the enclosure and seal it with silicone.

[–] roofuskit@lemmy.world 1 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Can you advise what region you live in and where you place the node? I would imagine a lot of places wouldn't be able to sustain a board on a garden lamp solar panel due to weather conditions and latitude.

[–] Prunebutt@slrpnk.net 1 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

I haven't tested it yet in the field, but according to my USB-measurement device, a heltec t114 used less than a milliwatt (about 50uA at 5V => 0.25mW).

According to a web search I did, the worst you can expect for a cheap solar module is about 10W/m^2. For a small panel with 3cm x 5cm, that's 161mW.

So, I think it should suffice. But maybe I should solder a bit and actually test my solar-node.

Put I'm hardly the first one to try this.

Edit: So, apparently, 50uA is a bit too optimisic. But some guy on youtube measured it at at 20mA worst case on 3.7V. That's still 74mW.

[–] DScratch@sh.itjust.works 2 points 1 month ago (1 children)

I’ve started using this one:

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005010319546256.html

With 4 of these (from a pack of 6):

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005007911767867.html

And this RAK node (Type 6):

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005008285698839.html

So far it’s been working out well! Even when placed inside on the second floor looking out a north facing window, the battery has been kept above 90% and the reception seems pretty good!

[–] DScratch@sh.itjust.works 1 points 1 month ago

One thing; the power connector from the enclosure to the RAK node had its polarity inverted, a little lovin’ with a small screwdriver or similar lets you flip it.

[–] Kirk@startrek.website 2 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

I have been curious about this too. Something like a thinknode looks like a simple solution.