The power supply problem in remote beach areas
When installing automatic storage lockers on the beach we've more than once run into the problem of no electricity being available in remote areas of the beach. Naturally, the best solution in this situation is to install solar panels, which by the way we already do in practice. But there's another solution that doesn't require any extra costs. That's running the unit off a battery.
A car battery as the basic solution
As a battery to provide uninterrupted power, you can use the most common type: a 12V 65-85Ah car battery. When choosing a model, give preference to deep-cycle traction batteries: unlike starter batteries, they're designed for deep, regular discharge rather than a short burst of high current to start an engine, which is exactly why this type of battery can handle a daily discharge-charge cycle without quickly losing capacity.
Gel batteries for regular loads
If you're expecting recurring power supply problems, it's recommended to use a higher-capacity solution that's more resistant to deep discharge. Deep-cycle gel batteries have exactly the characteristics needed here. Look at gel 12V 120-150Ah (C20) models. These batteries cost more than car batteries, but their design is built from the ground up for repeated deep-discharge cycles, which matters a lot if the storage locker runs on battery power not occasionally, but constantly, throughout the whole season.
Runtime and maintenance
The battery runtime of our storage lockers is over 24 hours. The downsides of this method are the need to replace the battery every day and having at least two units on hand for uninterrupted operation of the complex and timely swapping. But you can always combine business with pleasure, right? Namely, swap the battery and collect the cash from the equipment at the same time :)
