Spotlight Cam Battery not charging with solar panel

I am having the same problem with my solar panel. I got the solar panel so I wouldn’t have to keep charging batteries & climbing ladders. I have a disability & this is a challenge.

@Jennifer_Ring wrote:

Thank you so much for this information. It seems like November is a common date. I’ll be sending this to the team.

Just to rule out weather, do you mind mentioning where you are from? No worries if not!

Jennifer,

I’m in WA state. All my 1st gen solar panels (micro USB connection) hold charge with absolutely NO problems. Only the spotlight cam and panel are affected.

I’m still within my return period for the panel. I’m sending it back.

Lol. I was thinking the same thing when I saw the update pop up. I felt like was playing Russian roulette, whether it would make things better or worse. Turns out it was a push.

Well this is weird. One of my stickup cams on a solar panel suddenly went to 100% in a single morning (from about 88%). My other stickup cam (also on a solar panel) is still losing power. My new Spotlight cam (also on a solar panel) is still losing power. My Ring Doorbell 2 has always stayed at 100%. Is this the Ring Twilight Zone?

This is so incredibly ridiculous. This thread is more than 19 pages deep and ring has no clue about how terrible the quality is.

I got a replacement solar panel that worked for 2 days and then again same issue - I asked to be upgraded to the super panel - they let me pay the difference of $50 and this one is a dud.

I would add that I have 2 other spots with regular solars that have charged great from day 1 this one I just can’t get to a consistent performance

MarylanderRing, you are lucky. All of my cams (3) were not charging since at least November (2 of them - on is only a month old and has the same issue) … until today, when one of them (an older one) suddenly went to 100%. I am hoping that they are doing something.

I honestly don’t know how much better the other ones are. I bought 1 wyze pan and a blinkxt2. I don’t know if the Arlos, Nests, ADPs are any better.
I’ve invested way too much (my fault for not being diligent ) into the ring platform with 9 cams/bells, sensors etc ) to dump and move my main set up to a competitor.

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MarylanderRing, I am in the same boat. 2 stickup cams, 1 spotlight cam and a Ring doorbell. Really don;t want to replace all of them. I will conitnue ot have faith that Ring is trying to help (although this is no longer Ring really - it’s owned by Amazon now, I think).

When did they come out with this “super solar panel”? I purchased ring security system and various cameras. Over $3000 worth of equipment and never saw this super solar panel or had anybody offer it to me.

Either way, i started to notice in December that 3 out of 5 of my spotlight cams were not charging like the should. They all have 2 batteries in them. I live in NY state, so I understand that it gets cold, but if 2 of them keep 100% charge on both batteries, why can’t the all? None of them show that the solar panel is connected. For the amount of money I have paid, things should run better than this. Especially if it is a software issue! Roll back to when things worked. I don’t think that’s too much to ask.

Add one more set of cameras not working. I live in AZ too.

I have had solar up with spot light camera for over a year.

Some units worked others not at all.

Even the ones that worked never keep a full charge in AZ in summer. I suspect there is more than a firmware problem.

There no easy way to hard wire my cameras.

I want my money back Ring !!!

Will see.

I suspect Ring knows this is a hardware defect and is trying to figure out what to do.

I would take camera or panel hardware if it would actually fix the problem.

I suspect it is not the panels. They are a pretty simple component.

Bought spotlight camera with solar panel and battery won’t charge. Panel is clean and has full day access to sunlight. App states Solar Panel Status as “Add a Ring solar panel to extend Battery Life”. It is as if the solar panel is not even there.

Poor product.

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I honestly don’t know if it is hardware or software, but if it is hardware, why did everything work for a year or two and then suddenly all stop charging with the solar panel at the same time across the country?

I sure hope that is not the case as we’re having the same problems and we’re going on 7 months, using one batter but the solar battery perfectly placed above the awning under which the camera is neatly tucked. (see pic) The amount of people sharing this problem is not reassuring since we were planning on adding additional units this year. Pehaps the light snow we had last night (shown in picture) is enough to prohibit a good charge BUT we have had no measureable snow and this problem predates weather issues. Hmmm. I’ll recheck the wiring and hope for the best.

I got one of my Stick Up Cams a solar panel at the end of Dec and it has never charged but the battery seems to last a little longer with the panel and a sunny day. I think it is just draining more slowely, like the panel just gives enough to keep it a bit steady during the day. But really it may only make it last another couple of days I guess. Today it lost 3% since this morning thus far for some reason and it’s bright and sunny out. Really does not do much. Definitely not worth it. I am hoping that there’s a fix soon.

i dont think its a hardware issue, i got my new and they told me it was the panel i tested the panel with volt meter before retrun it and it was given of the 5 volts it supplies. then i put in the new one still no charging, i was told its the camera. then i just got and install the new camera and saddly from the looks of it still no charging. i will give it until friday before i call them and complain again but this item is new and i think i will be asking for a refund may be put up a wired camera insted.

Well, I commented a few days ago that one of my stickup cams jumped to 100%. Next day, back down to 92. What in the world is going on here?

Well here’s a doosie. I decided to post a review on Amazon to try and let potential customers know that they might want to check here before purchasing a ring product if the customer was planning on using it with a solar panel to see if these charging issues were resolved. Got a notice a few hours later that they would not post the review as it did not meet their guidelines. May be the presence of the URL and I will try to resolve that be leaving it out and trying to post it again. This is what I posted:

__________

I would pass on Ring products right now until solar charging issue is resolved

I have been a big fan of Ring products and have had many of them for years. Suddenly last November the solar panels suddenly stopped charging the units. No solution in sight. This URL chronicales the sad tale of woe:

https://community.ring.com/t5/Security-Cams/Spotlight-Cam-Battery-not-charging-with-solar-panel/m-p/14090/highlight/false#M2589

I would seriously wait until this longstanding problem is resolved before purchasing any Ring product that you plan to use with a solar panel. On battery works fine, but that is the whole point of having solar power as an option. Caveat emptor.

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You’re not allowed to post URLs unless it’s for another product. So right there it failed. I’ve posted many negative reviews without any issues. Here is the part that is from the rules below.

Reviews may only include URLs or links to other products sold on Amazon.

I have as well. I noted that it was likely the URL in my initia post. I removed that and reposted. No notifications yet. Will see if it posts this time.