Meshtastic is a network without infrastructure—a true mesh network. However, if the goal is to achieve wide-area coverage, relying solely on portable nodes or devices installed at home is not enough. Deployment on elevated sites, ideally outside urban areas, becomes essential. One of the major advantages of this technology is that it does not require an Internet connection and consumes very little energy, making solar-powered operation a realistic and sustainable option. This also opens the door to deployment in open countryside or remote locations. With that in mind, I explored autonomous solar-powered solutions designed to extend network reach. I was able to test two of them, which turned out to be very different in both quality and price—unsurprisingly, the two aspects are closely linked.

Gitfos Solution (Aliexpress)

Alright, the picture doesn’t lie — we’re talking about a tracker designed for a GPS-free setup with “Sloar” operation, so expectations need to be realistic. That said, this solution has the undeniable advantage of price. I bought it for €35 earlier this summer, and it’s now selling for €41, which is starting to feel a bit steep for what it offers. Without giving too much away, it’s clear that I wasn’t expecting miracles from this device.

What caught my attention, however, was its low cost. When deploying Meshtastic relay nodes in the wild, it’s preferable to use inexpensive hardware that won’t be a big loss if it’s damaged or disappears. That’s the main reason I chose this device: affordability first. My key question was whether such a small solar panel and low-capacity battery could actually sustain Meshtastic operation. Even though the network’s power consumption is minimal, maintaining constant listening mode still represents a significant energy draw.

Zooming in on the “idle” consumption using an OTII measurement, we can see an average current draw of about 8 mA during reception at 3.8 V.

When comparing this consumption to the supplied battery, autonomy works out to around 100 hours, given its 800 mAh capacity — roughly four days of operation, which is fairly reasonable for an acceptable service level. However, the solar panel’s size is more concerning. It’s made up of only two small cells, and the charging electronics do not appear to use an MPPT controller to optimize energy capture. The panel likely peaks around 500 mW, while the system’s average consumption is roughly 30 mW. For reference, in my LoRaWAN gateway designs, I usually apply a 1:50 ratio to achieve about 97% annual uptime in the Auvergne region. Here, the ratio is closer to 1:15, which is clearly insufficient. In practical terms, to reach the same level of reliability, the system would need a solar panel of about 1.5 W.

This means the setup performs acceptably during summer, when full sunlight between roughly 10:00 and 16:00 can recharge the battery enough for the night cycle (16:00–10:00). In winter, however, the system will struggle to maintain charge.

After leaving the device outdoors throughout the summer, I found that by early September it had already stopped responding — though I intentionally placed it in partial shade to simulate winter-like conditions. The battery voltage had dropped to 2.8 V, and even afternoon sunlight was no longer sufficient to restart it. This points to another issue: without intelligent charge management, the microcontroller’s boot sequence draws a sharp current spike that can quickly deplete the small amount of energy recovered by the solar panel, even under good exposure conditions.

Simple & low cost design

Inside, the design is simple and clearly built to minimize cost, based on a GAT562 module that is roughly equivalent to a RAK WisBlock 4631 — in other words, a platform centered on the nRF52840. There’s no integrated USB connector, but for those willing to tinker, it’s possible to perform firmware updates by temporarily wiring a USB connection to the accessible pins. That’s how I managed to update mine successfully.

The enclosure is somewhat weatherproof. The seal around the antenna connector is more aesthetic than functional, yet after three months outdoors — through multiple storms and high humidity — it has held up impressively well. Functionally, it performed as expected without issue.

In my case, I flashed the device with the RAK WisBlock 4631 Beta firmware, version 2.6, without any problems. The unit does come with a preinstalled firmware, but as far as I recall, it was quite outdated.

When setting up the device—given that the documentation is practically nonexistent—the pairing process is done using the default PIN code “123456.”

I plan to continue experimenting with this product and will probably try leaving it somewhere to observe how it performs over time. It comes with a small stand that allows it to be easily placed in the ground, but that’s not really the best option. Mounting it higher up—attached to a pole or a tree using zip ties—would provide much better conditions for range and performance.

SenseCAP solar node (Seeed Studio)

Here, we move into an entirely different category with this Seeed Studio product—both in terms of quality and price—though it remains quite reasonable at around $90, which after taxes and shipping comes to roughly €100. Clearly, this isn’t the kind of device you’d want to install in a high-risk or unattended location, but in safer areas it’s a solid, well-built product that should prove durable over time.

The 5 W solar panel easily meets the system’s power requirements. I haven’t measured the circuit’s exact consumption, but since it’s also based on an nRF52840, and includes an integrated GPS, its idle power pattern should be similar to the previous device. The architecture diagram of the solution shows the presence of an MPPT controller—although the reference noted underneath points to a battery charger that doesn’t actually include that function, suggesting there may be a mismatch between documentation and implementation.

The circuit design is clean and well executed, using components neatly soldered onto the PCB. The nRF module is mounted on the bottom side, and overall, the assembly isn’t meant to be disassembled without damaging it—making a full analysis difficult, such as confirming whether an MPPT controller is truly present.

What immediately stands out, however, is the battery setup. Instead of a single 800 mAh cell like in the previous device, this unit includes much larger batteries rated at 3,350 mAh each—and not just one, but four of them, for a total capacity of 13.4 Ah, or nearly 50 Wh. In practice, that means almost a year of autonomy on battery power alone, with the 5 W solar panel providing ample overhead. It’s clearly overkill for this kind of use case, but it does offer great reliability and peace of mind.

There’s also a cheaper version available, which comes without batteries or GPS. That variant could be ideal for a Meshtastic repeater, where you might install just one or two batteries instead of four to reduce cost. Since the batteries are wired in parallel, this kind of adjustment works perfectly fine.

This view also highlights the quality of the waterproof enclosure — it’s impressively well-built. Given the overall price, it could actually make economic sense to purchase this product just for the casing and replace the internal circuit. The housing would serve as an excellent foundation for custom solar-powered LoRaWAN developments, such as sensor nodes or monitoring devices. Moreover, since the I²C interface is easily accessible, adding an external module or sensor as an extension would be straightforward.

The kit also includes all the necessary mounting hardware for pole installation, with adjustable brackets that allow proper solar panel orientation and an antenna offset to keep it upright. The included antenna is quite basic, but for a standard LoRa node it’s perfectly adequate and helps keep the overall cost reasonable. For a Meshtastic relay, however, I’d recommend replacing it with a higher-quality antenna. The board already includes the required mounting holes to install a robust outdoor antenna, such as the 5 dBi RAK model shown below.

Really good Price on Quality ratio

I’ll need a bit more hands-on experience with this product before sharing detailed feedback about its real-world performance, but my first impressions are very positive. I don’t expect to encounter any issues related to power supply or weather resistance. The next step is simply to find a good elevated and secure location for it—somewhere suitable to extend my Meshtastic / Gaulix network around the area.