Spotlight Cam Battery not charging with solar panel

I have a spotlight and doorbell. I also have three Amazon Cams that led me to this post (googling for issues) after my spotlight batteries stopped charging from the panel. (And all the same about the update and the new “add a solar panel wording ) I wanted to add another Amazon cam and would you look at that, they have stopped selling them because Amazon is working with Ring instead. All at the same time our spotlights go wonky with the updates. Coincidence? Nope. I’m sure it’s all a behind the scenes data updates forcing our already purchased products to go obsolete forcing us to buy more add on items or the newest. (Which doesn’t sell me, it just makes me go to a competitor AND advise family and friends NOT to waste their time and money.)

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My guess is this a ploy to upsell the super Solar Panel.

Tech support has been clueless

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I too am having the same problem. The Ring Spotlight Cam does not charge with the solar panel anymore. The Ring Stickup Cam does!

I have 3 solar panels and 2 Spotlight cams…neither of the Spotlight Cams will charge using the solar panels anymore.

Ring, please fix.

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Same problem with my 2 solar cams as well. I even bought a new solar panel as the measured output seemed low. Obviously didn’t help so back it goes for a refund.

RING – You need to chime in

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My front door bell device health shows me that “Solar Charger Status is Connected”

My door bell IS NOT CONNECTED TO ANY SOLAR CHARGER.

And the Power Source say" Hardwired" which the door bell is.

Whats going on Ring?

Ring why is my door bell showing solar power and my Spotlight cam battery is not charging my battery?

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Well, add me to the list. And after a lot of troubleshooting it has to be a Ring software issue. Got a pair of Spotlight Cams and Solar Panels from Ring. Tried installing the first one and got the message. Then tried all possible combinations of cams and panels. Tried resetting - same result. Then I found this thread.

I have a Ring Doorbell 2 and two stick up cams on solar panels that have worked for ages (in addition to the new Spotlight cam I put in today that made me notice the problem message). They ALL now have the same message (“Add a Ring solar panel to extend battery life”). This is obviously a Ring software problem. I don’t understand why they don’t just acknowledge it. Ring support has always been very good. I’d just like to know if they will admit what is going on and tell us that they are working on it.

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I’m beyond upset with this garbage called Ring. Due to bad weather, I went two days without my spotlight working - had to climb up and pull both batteries to charge. Prior to that, the solar panel WAS working allowing me to see videos just not live. Climbed back up and put the batteries in and one went to 96% and clearly was charged back by the solar panel (on an overcast day) Now, two sunny days later that same battery is sitting at 96%. Honestly, I should have just spent $2k to get a professionally installed and wired security type cam system for my house. My Ring and Spotlight are just toys now and not reliable for any kind of “home security” the way they false advertise. My amazon cams work 100% better.

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Sign me up too. My panels charged my Stickup cams great until about a month ago I thought it was the lack of bright sunlight but noticed the same connect solar panel ad and thought the panels had gone bad. Glad I found this thread before I spent too much time troubleshooting.

Ring get your act together. Paying customers shouldn’t have to beta test on products and apps that have been out for two plus years! WTF.

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Mine stopped working too after snow. No options to restart itself?

Ring customers: contact Help at Ring Com to report this issue.

Help@ring.com

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Is it possible that one must pay a subscription in order for the Ring Solar Panel to work? Our panels quit working right after three months.

JustJoe,
Did Ring Help help you?

Has it helped?

I pay $100 a year and they don’t work.

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I was able to get mine charging again by removing the device and re-adding it. The app still suggests that I add a solar panel to extend battery life, but the batteries are recharding. I removed the device from the network, recharged the batteries, reinserted them, then added the camera back to the network. It’s continued to charge for a couple days now.

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Reposting for those not reading all the pages

**For iOS users seeing “add a ring solar panel to extend battery life” read below.

I called CS… the person I talked to asked someone else about the “add a ring solar panel to extend battery life” statement . Developers told him that it’s on the IOs app only (not on Android) and that it’s there for everyone regardless of if they have a solar panel attached or not. It’s basically an ad. It’s not an indicator of if the solar panel is connected or not. They now know it’s causing confusion for customers that have solar panels attached.

Thank you Beth.

Even if we ignore the ad, the solar panels seem to no longer charge our cams. Not too sure what we can do to have our panels start charging again. Not sure why Ring would break this for us all. Sort of a slap in the face for those of us that bought panels, especially those that bought Ring cams because of the availablity of the panels.

The confusion I can live with. The cams needing to have their battieries charged I can’t. One cam is a big enough hassle to keep charged, but when you have several that need battery changes and charges at different times. It becomes a real hassle. Really disappointed that Ring broke my panels and cams with a poorly written app/firmware update.

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I tried the removing and re-adding as mentioned a couple of threads up. And the cam said it was updating firmware although in device health it showed as up to date. Regardless, still decreasing charge rate here in sunny AZ.

Ring – any comments?

What a disappointment that Ring is not weighing in here.

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***Try this ***

The Spotlight Cams DO charge with the solar panels BUT they don’t indicate they are charging until MANY hours later.

  1. Plug in panel
  2. Take note of battery power
  3. Allow 4-5 hours
  4. Recheck battery power level

Ring needs to fix this but they DO charge.

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