V5 Rapid Deployment Cameras Profile

$15K for a single fixed wireless solar cam?

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Brian Karas

In reply to Undisclosed Integrator #1

IPVM

Yes, though that does include the battery to give 3 days of runtime, and analytics.

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Jim Van Vorst

In reply to Undisclosed Integrator #1

You can probably work them down to $14K in quantity.

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Brandon Knutson

In reply to Undisclosed Integrator #1

IPVMU Certified

$15k is $7.5k too much.

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Brian Karas

In reply to Brandon Knutson

IPVM

Brandon -

Can you elaborate on that? What makes $7,500 the optimal price for something like this?

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Brandon Knutson

IPVMU Certified

In reply to Brian Karas

I was excited about this solution as I read the article because I liked the turn-key nature of it, but I find the price to be a little shocking. I figured it was a $700+/- camera with solar power and Wi-Fi.

I'm not an installer so I have no idea what it would cost to cobble together a similar solution. My comment is solely based on my perceived value of this camera.

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Undisclosed Integrator #2

In reply to Brandon Knutson

There are so many unrealistic expectations for decent wireless solar cameras...

Trust me, solar with battery backups (for 3 days!) and a wireless camera are not inexpensive. I am not as shocked by this pricing as everyone else appears to be. I know when people think "wireless" they think of a Dropcam with a small battery pack attached. As a test, pull out your phone, leave cellular on, start recording video and see how long the battery lasts. Now add IR, a P-iris, a clunky processor, possibly a heater/blower, and all of the other accessories we expect a decent camera to have.

I imagine that solar panel scales up in size depending upon region. We have wireless solar cameras here in Michigan and the solar panels required make the poles look more like a sail. The added costs of structural engineering, beefier poles, and all of the necessary labor end up adding to the price tag.

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Nancy Bedwan

•Aug 29, 2017

In reply to Brandon Knutson

Hi Brandon,

We understand your concerns with our product. We would love to provide insights in addition to what is being mentioned in the article above - I would like to start off by clarifying that that we offer an entire security solution; the camera is a small commodity part of the entire product offering.

Our security solutions are self-powered, wireless, multi-sensor security solutions which means that they can be deployed in any outdoor environment overcoming the biggest challenge of power and connectivity.Our proprietary power system runs on a combination of Li-Ion battery, bullet resistant/lightweight solar panels and a power battery management system. This system provides 1500 watts of power for up to 3 consecutive days of live 24/7 video streaming without any solar input. We also have auxiliary power units that can be added to our solution for additional power (up to 7 total days) without solar input. Many integrators use lead acid battery (heavy, bulky), off the shelf solar panels (not bullet resistant or lightweight with glass and metal frame) and no power management system that offers logic based load balancing.
V5 Systems' power management system and integrated sensor board enable the end user to use our free VMS (video management system) to view video streams, access analytics based alerts in real time if rules are broken for proactive responses, health monitoring of the device itself (for both hardware and software) and even battery status levels. These devices can also be integrated into the customers own VMS for video monitoring.
Our platform enables integration of any 3rd party camera or has the option to use the V5 camera which provides video analytics, alerting the end user in real-time (text and/or email) if a person or vehicle has entered a defined zone. These devices are not motion based as our market research has indicated to us that many law enforcement agencies do not have a high level of confidence in alerts derived from motion detection. Our analytics do not run on a backend server or in the cloud, they run on an ARM based computing platform on the device itself with software that we have developed and optimized to run at the edge.
Our onboard storage of up to 1TB can store 24/7 video for up to 1 month on the device itself. This video can be view anytime through our UI or app (Android and iphone) or downloaded in HD quality. This is especially useful if wireless communications (for whatever reason) goes down, the video feed is always being recorded on the device itself. We have had customers that have lost the ability to connect to a network that has been throttled and have benefited from having HD video available on the device itself.
Integrated wireless communications (Wi-Fi, cellular and/or RF) per customer needs

There will always be a need for off the shelf and Systems Integrated solutions, V5 Systems is just enabling our customers and partners to deploy turn-key, self-powered security solutions quickly (in under 30 minutes) and be able to easily move the units if needed. We are not looking to displace any existing technology, we are doing our best to make sure that any security provider who may benefit from a turnkey solution for rapid outdoor security deployments understands that V5 Systems can help.

Besides video surveillance, V5 Systems also provides a software based acoustic sensor that has been developed and trained to detect, localize and alert proprietors in real-time for gunshot detection/gunshot location.

Please get in touch with us if you would like to learn more about our products and the solutions that we offer. If you would like to setup a demo please schedule one here: http://v5systems.us/schedule-demo/

Best,

Nancy Bedwan

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Eddie Perry

I will be doing an update on the remote solar project here shortly

Remote Solar Project

What I did is still cheaper but not as sexy If wanted to now that I have a full year of playing with it. I could get cost around $3-$4K and still make $1K profit for each unit sold.

Top of the line 4K cameras would run about $5K-$6k same specs 3 days. analytic's would be a different story though. but personally I have seen quite a few analytic's across the board and the failure rates are still to high for most practical applications.

but its one area I would love to be proved wrong in so we have some analytic's that actually work reliably in the field.

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Undisclosed Integrator #3

In reply to Eddie Perry

Eddie,

I'd love to read the update. I followed your original post and found it really interesting :)

Very detailed and I definitely learned a lot.

Thank you.

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Paul Curran

7 Million in funding? We did this and have it successfully running across various sites in London with remote monitoring. :)

Remote video

Analytics

Remote Audio

Solar powered or chage powered at night from the street lamp

Local recording and offsite recording

Time to raise some capital :D ;)

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Brian Karas

IPVM

In reply to Paul Curran

Paul - sounds like you just need a catchy name and an investor deck. Good luck!

Or maybe you could do a Mini IPO.

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Paul Curran

In reply to Brian Karas

I think so lol 😂😂

I did forget to add we had a siren as well forgot about that!

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Steven Ballard

•Jan 28, 2017

IPVMU Certified

We manufacture and sell this solar, two camera, self contained, rapid deployment unit for way under 15K - Isentry. It even includes the pole and concrete pad.

iSentry Solar

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John Honovich

•Jan 28, 2017

IPVM

Steven, I added your product's name and a link to the website.

In this case, since it is directly on topic and for a niche market, it's perfectly appropriate to recommend one's own product.

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Undisclosed Integrator #4

Is the siren to deter tampering?

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Steven Ballard

In reply to Undisclosed Integrator #4

IPVMU Certified

These units are designed to be monitored. We activate the siren to mitigate loss from criminal activity.

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Undisclosed Integrator #2

Does the way under $15k cost require your monitoring service or can it be purchased standalone for <$15k?

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Steven Ballard

In reply to Undisclosed Integrator #2

IPVMU Certified

Regardless of monitoring the purchase price is the same.

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Christine Jackson

Is this company still in business? When I click on the link it goes to a dead page...looks like an old webpage.

I just discovered this thread while on a search for solar powered cameras...

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Undisclosed #9

In reply to Christine Jackson

I think the page moved: https://inetsas.com/isentry-solar/

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Undisclosed Manufacturer #10

In reply to Christine Jackson

Sensera Systems is very much in business, and winning major projects over V5 solutions.

You can find us at www.senserasystems.com

Sincerely, David.

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Daniel Dollinger

•Jan 28, 2017

Bullet Proof solar panel? This is hardly bullet-proof, and the bullets pass through it! In addition, the fact that something can puncture it and allow it to operate in a "reduced capacity" is nothing new to the solar industry. Traditionally, hail and other flying objects damage panels all the time, and its well documented that they remain in operation, though reduced output. Sounds like a clever marketing strategy.

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Brian Karas

In reply to Daniel Dollinger

IPVM

Daniel -

I followed up with V5, they call the panel "Bullet Resistant", and I updated the title for that section accordingly. While other solar panels may be able to operate with damage, they feel their panel has an advantage due to being lighter weight and thinner than a typical solar panel.

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Daniel Dollinger

Thanks for the followup... It appears to be good marketing. Unless they are providing specs, comparing their panels vs competition, it's simply a good sales tactic. Nothing wrong with saying it, just not necessarily verifiable.

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Norm Dimick

In reply to Undisclosed Integrator #6

I worked with a similar product, Iveda, a few years ago before they changed their business model. MSRP for an outdoor PTZ with cell modem was right around 5K and the solar add-on was about 2K.

Even at those prices I had huge resistance from clients and only sold a handful of units.

After Iveda discontinued support and left VAR's holding the bag I had to retrofit them with a static IP cellular modem and record video at the edge.

The modified units use the free Axis Companion software/app and eliminate the need for a recurring cloud-based hosting service. The only fee that my end-users pay for is the data usage when they connect to the camera to view and download the video.

Why pay 15K for the hardware when you can build it for less than half of that and avoid the possibility of future hosting fees?

The V5 solution looks good but I struggle to see a value justification for the huge price tag.

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Undisclosed Integrator #5

•Feb 02, 2017

I'm still curious to see why these things cost 15k... we use Tycon Power Systems for situations requiring remote power, and we have found our cost varies for everything (pole kit, box, panels, hardened POE switch, power controller, batteries) depending on what part of the country you are in due to sun cover/angle. We were quoted about $1700-$2000 for our last one for one of these complete solutions, minus the wireless equipment and the camera.

This puts us at roughly $4000 total when camera and wireless is factored in.

Tycon does all the calculations for you, taking your camera and wireless equipment into consideration to ensure your installation will run for however long it needs to without sun (for overcast days, etc).

I do not work for these guys... we just happen to have experience with them. I believe there are other companies out there like them that specialize in these sort of things. Is it possible for a comparison as to why the cost difference? Is it the option to monitor that is worth 10k? There has to be something that is not being communicated here that makes this investment worth it...

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Undisclosed Integrator #6

•Feb 06, 2017

Just my 1.5 cents... The article did say MSRP (not wholesale cost)

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Undisclosed Integrator #5

•Feb 06, 2017

Very true... I do agree as this pricepoint might be meant for the end user's eyes only... they could be providing introductory rates at steep discounts. However, the 15k MSRP is a bit extreme though for our market as we all know the cost of solar, cameras, etc... The surveillance industry has traditionally built custom solutions like this. In the present, the cost of solar, cameras, networking, all hardware is dropping very quickly. There are few sales situations that would allow for the cost of such a product without justification. Perhaps these come with a 5 year battery warranty, 5 year camera warranty, 20 year solar warranty, and lifetime support? 2 years of monitoring for free? Need more information on what value the high price point is besides what has already been given as "sales" points.

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Undisclosed Integrator #7

Anyone know if these guys are still in business? I tried to fill out their "Send us a Message" form at the bottom of their site and got an error msg after hitting send. I also just tried to call, 12:15pm CST, and got a very generic, default voicemail message. I would have thought a proper phone system would be near the top of the To-Do list after getting 7mil in the bank.

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Brian Karas

In reply to Undisclosed Integrator #7

IPVM

They were exhibiting at the NCS4 conference a couple of weeks ago, so they are still active. I will reach out to our contacts there and see if we can get a response for you.

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Undisclosed Integrator #7

In reply to Brian Karas

Excellent, thank you!!!

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Undisclosed Manufacturer #8

In reply to Undisclosed Integrator #7

Hello, Integrator #7. V5 Systems is definitely still around and can be reached for sales inquiries at (844) 604-7350 or info@v5systems.us.

Thank you for your interest and looking forward to hearing from you.

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David Gaw

•Sep 06, 2017

Hi - a couple points:

1. I think there are some apples/oranges comparisons here. Price of a system vs. price of components to make a "similar" system. The system is provided by a single manufacturer, presumably with specs at a system level for solar autonomy, etc. and presumably with support, documentation, warranty, and ability to buy more identical systems.

The components built into a system is a different beast really. And "costs" of such an assembled one-off system should include labor to research, design, integrate, and test that system. Clearly there is a market for both types of solutions. If a customer wants to deploy the same capability across 200 sites, then a "system" will probably be a preferred solution, unless the integrator wants to go into the manufacturing business.

2. We think that solar/wireless camera systems will continue to grow and improve as a way to cover hard-to-reach areas, and provide integrators with an option other than saying "no" to those requests to cover sites that have no power/network.

Sensera Systems offers a range of fully integrated/tested all-in-one solar/cellular/cloud camera systems ranging from $1999 - $5499 (MSRP). Our systems certified on all major carriers, offer 5 days autonomy and can be installed in 20 minutes. And we can ship you 1 or 200 :-)

You can learn more here www.SenseraSystems.com

(claiming relevance per your comment John...)

David.

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Jack Schenk

•Sep 15, 2017

I'm a fan!! But what do I know.

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Jack Schenk

•Sep 15, 2017

I actually know a good amount and watch out for this company.... they are going to kill it. Big things on the horizon!!!!! Can wait to seethi company grow and what's next for them.

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Steven Ballard