(9/5): I had the same question after installing my stickup cam on 9/4. I first installed the cam without the solar panel connected to the cam. I went through the setup and got the cam up and running without issue(s). When I plugged the solar panel into the cam, a popup window appears and suggests to set to “wired” mode for “constant power and improved motion detection”. That had me scratching my head as one could take that as implying that the solar panel would be supplying “constant power” to the cam. No?? I set it to “wired” mode but then decided to set it back to “battery” mode.
I later called tech support to ask what I should set it to…“wired” or “battery” mode. The customer rep was stumped also. She could only suggest that I leave it on battery mode and monitor the cam’s battery status to see if it is being charged by the panel. As of right now, the jury’s still out as it’s noon here (Texas) and there’s only been about 4 hrs. of direct (morning) sun on the solar panel since installation (initial battery charge at 92%).
And due to having the panel mounted on the east side of the house on the fascia, the panel’s mounting bracket is so LAME that the panel can’t be tilted flat (perpendicular to the sky) to get more than just the morning sun. That bracket needs to be longer in length so the panel doesn’t hit the edge of the roof and stop at about a 45* angle; or else have a pivot to where the panel can be rotated to landscape mode/position. Then it wouldn’t hit.
(9/7) update: after a couple of mornings of good direct sun, the battery doesn’t appear to be charging. If anything, it’s decreased 3 percentage points (down to 89%); and that’s even after disarming the camera in the afternoons. Need to figure out a way to reposition the solar panel for longer periods of direct sun. 2 watts of output power from that panel is pretty anemic…and dare I say OVERPRICED.