Building a Solar-Powered Repeater
You can buy pre-built solar repeaters from sources like Amazon.com and Etsy.com. Sometimes, they work out to be cheaper than building one yourself.
We do not have a recommended setup at this time for repeaters. The only important aspects are what mode you use. In 2025, most everyone uses "CLIENT" except for mountain-top repeaters which rightfully run "REPEATER" and sometimes "ROUTER" depending upon the situation.
Here is the parts list that Austin Mesh came up with as their preferred way to build a solar-powered repeater. We've updated this as of 2025 to account for availability and tariffs.
This design doesn’t require any soldering or complicated connectors. It also doesn’t require any battery management chips (which often have long shipping lead times and can be hard to get).
For this design, the solar panel is connected directly to the battery pack via USB. Then the battery pack is connected to the board via USB.
The Voltaic Systems V25 battery is nice because it is optimized to charge from a solar panel and it is set standard to an “always on” mode which means the battery bank does not shut off after a set amount of time like other battery packs – this is useful as the RAK chip uses very little power and can trick other battery packs into shutting off.
The other really nice thing about the Voltaic pack is that when it drains down completely, it shuts down, but then once the solar panel has sufficiently charged it back up, it will automatically turn itself back on again.
The RAK radio uses between 100 and 1000 mAh per day, with about 400 mAh per day being average, so theoretically the Voltaic V25 could keep the radio working for 16 days without any solar power, and the V75 could keep the radio running for 48 days without solar.
ITEM | Product Name | Cost | Link |
|---|---|---|---|
Solar Panel | Waveshare Solar Panel | $26 | https://www.amazon.com/Solar-Panel-6V-Performance156-Monocrystalline/dp/B07PNTRSNY |
Battery | Voltaic Systems V25 | $45 | |
RAK Board | RAK Meshtastic Kit | $35 | https://www.amazon.com/RAKwireless-WisBlock-Meshtastic-Starter-RAK19007/dp/B0CHKZJK9C |
Antenna Connector | IPEX to N Type Female | $9 | |
Antenna | 915 MHz 3 dBi N-Female | $39 | https://store.rokland.com/collections/802-11ah-wi-fi-halow/products/3-dbi-rak-brand-fiberglass-outdoor-antenna-bracket-mount-for-rak-bobcat-sensecap |
Box | ABS Box, 200mm x 120mm x 75mm | $10 | |
Drain Plug | VENT-PS1YBK-N8001 | $3 | https://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/Amphenol-LTW/VENT-PS1YBK-N8001?qs=5aG0NVq1C4wAxWre7fChJA%3D%3D |
USB Cable Pass-Through | 3/4 NPT Cable Gland | $9 | |
Antenna Wrap | Proxicast | $18 | |
$194 |
The above listing for the Solar Repeater build is actually based on fairly outdated info. However, there are many members experimenting with solar builds on our Mattermost instance and are willing to help with any questions or guidance. You can also search the web for projects like this one.
Some images of our member's builds using different parts:
