Patent ID: 8525469

Claim:
A system comprising: a camera; one or more solar panels; control circuitry operatively coupled to the camera for controlling the operation of the camera; one or more capacitors for storing energy from the one or more solar panels, wherein energy stored in the one or more capacitors is used to provide power to the control circuitry and the camera, and wherein the control circuitry is configured to prevent the camera from depleting energy stored in the one or more capacitors below a critical level so that the control circuitry will have enough energy available to sustain full circuit operation during time periods when the energy stored in the one or more capacitors is insufficient to maintain operation of both the control circuitry and the camera; a charge control circuit coupled to the one or more capacitors and to the one or more solar panels for protecting the one or more capacitors from damaging voltage levels; and a DC to DC converter coupled between the one or more capacitors and the control circuitry to provide a useable voltage relative to the voltage of the one or more capacitors as the capacitor voltages drop.