How do you know if your solar panel is working?

At this time, @Tuckerdog3 there is not a way to check connection in the app. However, we will certainly let you know if things change! In the meantime, did you charge your battery to 100% before installing? Keep in mind the Solar Panel will provide a trickle charge to your device, so you may see your battery lower one day, but be charged again the next. Let us know- we’re here to help!

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What is the warranty on the solar panel? I think mine may not be working anymore. Mine worked great at first but now it won’t charge my battery. I have to remove and charge it myself in the house.

All products have the same Warranty, which you can learn more about here.

It is visible immediately! Perhaps you may need to check the power supply. I found only this article Do Solar Panels Need Maintenance? - Blog About Solar Energy | Websolarguide

What do you mean check power supply! It has a battery and The solar panel I thought was supposed to be charging as battery in the camera was going down? The battery for my security camera keeps going down and the solar charger doesn’t seem to be affecting it .

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What we require is a charging symbol incorporated into the app so we can tell if the solar panel is charging the battery

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YES!! That would be awesome! I truly don’t think mine is working cuz the tech said you should see charge amount go up an Dow and I only see it go down! Does anyone know how long camera should stay charged with the panel??

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Hey @Tuckerdog3, thank you for following up with us! Battery life can vary based on usage and other factors. Of course, using a Solar Panel is a great way to extend the time between charges. With just a few hours of direct sunlight per day, it will keep your Stick Up Cam Battery fully charged.

Check out our Community post for tips on extending battery life, as well as our help center article about the Solar Panel.

If the information above does not improve your experience with battery life, please reach out to our support team, at 1-800-656-1918, for further troubleshooting.

I purchased the outdoor Ring security camera with built in spotlight and solar panel about six months ago and extra battery about 6 months ago. The panel is in a location that gets sun all day and the two batteries always stayed fully charged. Neither one is now charging. I put a multi-meter across the input plug from the panel and it seems to be producing current. I don’t know what the output specs are for voltage and amps. The batteries re-charge fine when I remove them and connect them in the house with a mini-USB cable.

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It’s simple!

Just monitor your device health to check the battery percentage.

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Interesting though a charging symbol would be more straightforward, however I have returned my solar panel for a refund as it is not fit for my purpose

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I purchased the spot cam w/solar panel almost a year ago. I had no issues for the first 10 months. Now it appears that my solar panel also does not work. Altogther, I have had to recharge the battery directly (via USB) three times: When I first setup the unit and twice in the past month and half. I don’t believe the panel has sufficient power to keep a moderately active camera chargedl. It’s possible once the battery power falls to a certain level, it does not have enough output to fully recharge the battery. I think I will also return mine for a refund. A second battery might be a better option for me.

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Where is it visible immediately? I installed 2 yesterday and under Device Health for Solar Panel Status it still shows ‘Add a Ring solar panel to Extend Battery Lfe’. Thanks

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Same

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I never trust this charger so i bought it and also a battery. I have to say it is working. I’m not sure how because one day decrease and another jump. But the fact is that the new battery still on the box after some weeks and with only few sunny days for now. It’s hard to follow charging if we are always checking but if we wait some days we can see that the % is a little highe than before. Then goes down again, then up again…
Not perfect but acceptable.

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I just purchased both the Stand Up Cam as well as the Solar Panel. When I mounted and installed cam, under Device Health option where you have all settings for the camera unit, the app stated the solar panel was detected to help in Extended Battery Life.

Three days later, I take the battery out as I didn’t fully charge it at time of install per Ring tech stating it didn’t have to be fully charged. So I charged it all day and I inserted battery into camera unit, and the solar panel status states to add a solar panel error when the solar panel was not even unplugged when ejecting battery.

Spent over 2 hours with two separate techs via chat and it was not resolved to have my app state under solar panel status detect solar panel being detected.

The second tech told me they are working properly if app states to add one. She informed me Ring App is not proving current information and the release to update and correct this will be available soon. This is a lie, as the if that’s the case, then battery levels would not be accurate and mine is accurate.

I purchased both devices only a few days ago from Best Buy, I don’t honestly have faith the solar panel will charge battery as claims Ring states to do. I will buy the wired version for the Stick Up Cam as I have no time nor desire to have to change battery and charge for 6 hours time. Also even owning two batteries, I will still have to deal with changing them every two weeks or less as my settings are deemed to drain energy much faster, but why have a cam you have weak settings chose? It’s on side of home and no motion should he sensed however I want the most sensitive setting chosen and I want to receive motions having an decent time clip records each time.

Seems as the solar panel unit is a joke and pretty much a huge waist of 49.99. I need a self sufficient camera and this wireless cam and solar panel device needs nonstop maintaining and dealing with and I don’t have a desire to deal with all the demands of these two units.

My cam is in a tree, I’ll simply spay paint the cord brown and attach it with clamps down tree and have my electrician dig a wire out to my tree, have plug right above yard, problem solved.

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I may have missed it, but I can’t see an answer to the actual qestion. Other than looking at the battery percentage and hoping it goes up as well as down occasionally, is there any way to tell if the solar panel is actually doing anything other than looking pretty?

so Ring, 2 questions:

1. Should the “solar panel status” line on the app actualy ever say anything other then “add a ring solar panel to extend battery life”? BTW, if the answer is no then a supplimentary question is why is it even there as its totally pointless.

2. Is there any way at all of telling if the Solar panel is actually doing anything?

These seem fundemental and very, VERY straight forward questions to answer. If the answer to either of these questions is no then Ring look a lot like snake oil salesman i.e. we have to “take their word” that the panel is working.

So, Ring, two very simple questions; no BS please, just respond directly to those questions.

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Jennifer,

It is difficult to tell if the Solar Charger is working. I installed it 6 days ago with some sunny days in between then and now. I have been monitoring the battery level regularly and have never seen it go up, only down. Starting with a 100% fully charged new battery, 6 days later it’s down to 88%. I have the mothion sensor frequency set to Standard.

The question remains, how do I know if it’s actually charging the battery? Thanks

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Seems simple. So of the battery level decreases everyday and never increases, is it working?

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I called Ring support a few weeks ago - just a few weeks before my 1 year warranty expired. I told them about my issue. They confirmed the panel was not working properly ( I guess they can also see the alerts I receive when my battery power is low and needs to be charged). They said since I am still under warranty they will exchange my panel for a new one. I asked if they made any changes to due to problems with the panel. I was told there are no known issues but will glady change mine since it is under warranty. I swapped out the old panel for the new one - I also noticed that the output on the new panel is slightly higher than the old panel. From my point of view that can only help with my situation.

The app does is not have any useful indicator that tells you the panel is fully functional and is actively charging the battery. The only way to determine this is to note the current power level and hope it increases. That is what I did. The battery was at 92% when I attached the new panel and has successfully charged to 100% (once I had a sunny day and relatively low activity). So I would say my panel is working but not certain, at this point, if the panel can keep the battery charged under high usage.

I would recommend anyone with solar panel issues contact support and if it is still under warranty, request a replacement. Check to see if it has a higher output than your old one. If I remember correctly, my power output was 2.2 W and the new no one is 2.4 W. Also, the panel comes with another 1 year warranty.

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