[Battlemesh] Battery recommendations for TP-Link TL-WR703N under solar?

[Ben West]

Hello Battlemesh,

A recent, sadly abortive, funding application had my mesh network partner
and I scheming interesting things to do with a fully solar-powered mesh of
WR703Ns.  These lovely little guys have been described as having only 0.5W
power consumption, i.e. 100mA at 5V.

Is anyone presently using WR703Ns under solar power?  Would you have
batteries, panels, and charge circuitry you'd like to recommend?

My own searching yielded these 6V 12Amp-hour AGM batteries:
http://www.apexbattery.com/powersonic-ps-6100f2-6v-12ah-battery.html

Likewise this handy schematic for an adaptable 5V DC/DC converter:
http://www.module.ro/5V-dc-dc%20converter.html

A 10W / 12V solar panel like this one could provide ~500mA of current,
leaving 400mA or so for trickle charging.  Neglecting whatever
inefficiencies in the charge controller or the 6V > 5V regulation.
http://www.amazon.com/Instapark%C2%AE-Black-High-Efficiency-Mono-Crystalline-Solar/dp/B004FWW1M4/

So, it seems such a 12Ah battery could supply a WR703N for days
continuously.  This would presumably work well for instances where sunlight
is scant (e.g. windows in urban environments, polar latitudes), but the
battery is large and heavy, possibly overkill.

Has anyone else tried the TP-Links with different batteries?

-- 
Ben West
http://gowasabi.net
ben at gowasabi.net
314-246-9434
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