The paper documents the authors' power usage experience and hardware related designs, and concludes with a summary of the leading options available, with indications of the factors to be considered in choosing the options to use for a particular situation. The authors are committed to open standards-based, accessible, and affordable environmental monitoring, as part of national initiatives to restore biodiversity and plan for climate change. Research is presented using an Iterative Action Research model. Using a formal model allows the authors to highlight the common themes in their research while contextualising differences in the way they approach a common challenge. Power requirements are critical to a successful IoT deployment in any environment which doesn't have a continuous power grid available. Following the guidelines presented in this paper will enable a sound platform for building a successful IoT environment.