Ring Solar Panel White – Compatible with Ring Spotlight Cam Battery and Stick Up Cam Battery

The solar panel is a great add to the ring spotlight cam. I have a few exterior cameras, and of course they are the battery ones (otherwise this review would be silly). The cameras are set up high off the ground as to increase their viewing angles as well as decrease the possibility of someone grabbing it. This is great…. Until i need to recharge the battery. Then it is pull the ladder out, set it up, move it because i set it up to far away…., pull the battery out, charge for what seems like forever, and repeat for installation of the battery.

The solution: this solar panel is a great way to charge the battery without all the ladder fiasco i mentioned earlier. While the battery life will go quite some time without charging, not having to ever climb the ladder to do the battery bit is glorious and safer. Any day the sun is out the battery charges and quite quickly i might add. I think it charged quicker using the solar panel than it did plugged into the way (energy conversion. Solar panels are d/c, wall outlets are a/c). If the sun doesn’t shine on the panel for a few days because of weather no big deal, the battery will continue to run the cam without incident. Once the sun peeks back out, it charges for you. I have not had the battery run low or out of juice yet (it is possible during long period without sun light, but i can always charge the old-fashioned way if i have to).

Installation is really easy. The mount for the panel takes two screws. Note there is a top and a bottom to the panel and the mount. There is a little tab on the panel that sits into the mount (that is the top). Then on the back of the cam you push the top button on the back panel and the mounting bracket slides off. Remove the bottom rubber button (if it did not fall free when you took the cover off), then slide the mounting bracket back into place (do not forget to push the top button to allow it to seat all the way). Then simply plug the solar panel plug into the back of the cam and re-hang. Bing bang boom you have upgraded your camera with the power of the sun. Sit back and enjoy not having to climb the ladder ever again…. At least for this.

I routed behind house facia, tucking into aluminum trim- very easily. At certain crossover points i used small cable zip ties. Made bracket using a large 10” curtain rod bracket. I needed to get past gutters . Put the shorter side against the house and have the longer side extend- and this is important, if you do not have enough facia board exposed, turn bracket sideways like i did. The unit does not weigh much. I then took a block of solid wood, with dimensions big enough for the sensors base, and screwed that to the bracket, and then screwed the sensor into that piece of wood. Angle it in the direction where there is most sun during the day- and tilt slightly towards southern hemisphere

I own a lot of ring gear, a mix of 6 versions of their cameras, camera/spotlights and doorbells and have owned some of my ring gear for over 5 years. This was my first purchase of a battery powered ring camera/light with the solar array accessory. I installed the set up the spring of 2021 – my impressions are below:

pro:
-the solar array and ring battery spotlight cam combo are conducive to an easier installation process than a wired ring camera because you obviously don’t need to install a 110v outlet or have proximity to one to make the installation.
-the 13 foot connection cord allows for a variety of installation scenarios. In my case, i ran the cable under my vinyl siding around a fireplace chase with the solar array on the sunny side and the camera facing my back yard.
-inconspicuous appearance, does its job well. One important tip here – charge the battery to 100% before installation using the supplied usb cable and any usb power port. I bought an extra battery and it took me between 5 and 7 hours to charge each battery to 100% using the power cord. Do not rely on the solar panel to charge from 40% when the batteries arrive to 100%.
-the solar array has kept my pair of batteries at between 99%-100% since i hooked it up about 3 weeks ago. My solar panel is in a very sunny, unshaded spot and it gets between 8 and 12 hours of sun a day.

Con:
-more expensive than the wired version, especially with 2 batteries. But the ease of installation, not needing a 110v outlet and the long power cord decrease labor time and the power is off the grid.
– it’s possible that many of the 1-2 star reviews for the solar array not working may be simple connection issues and not understanding how to set up the power draw the camera uses within the app.
-i think the solar array needs a lot more sunlight than ring claims which is 2 hours a day. I’d bet it’s more like like 6-8+ hours of direct sun. Your results may vary depending on your location for the solar panel and the amount of sun it receives.

I saw a 1 star review that had the solar array mounted under and eave/soffit on a home. That’s not going to work. The solar array needs full access to the sun so be thoughtful about the mounting location and under an eave is not a good choice for location.

You also may need to adjust the power usage settings on the app – it basically has a low, medium and high power draw set ups. Understand the app, the settings and choose the right settings for your situation.

Make sure you press the solar panel cable into the camera with enough pressure to fully seat the cord plug in the back of the camera. Then check ‘solar status’ on the device health page (see photo). When i took the screen shot of the device health page i attached in the photos, it was raining outside and there was no solar charging going on – see the message from the app. If that ‘connected’ note does not show up on the app, the array will not work properly. I have had the solar array cut out once since i installed it but got it quickly fixed.

I wiggled the solar cable a bit on the back of the camera and it immediately came back online on the device health page on the app. I removed the solar array cable from the back of the camera and put a small dab of dielectric compound on the metal cable end and reinserted the cable. Dielectric compound improves electrical connectivity, prevents metal oxidation and helps waterproof the electrical connection. The array has worked fine ever since i added the dielectric compound.

Your experience may vary based on location factors but based on my 5+ years of ring experience and the performance of this particular solar camera package, i’d recommend this ring solar array and camera without hesitation, especially where 110v outlets are not available or expensive to install and you understand how to properly place the solar array and use the app settings. Hope that helps!

The solar panel is a good value at a discounted price. Retail at $49.95 seems too high to me. The mount provided is not integrated with existing stick up camera. The swivel only moves in one direction and therefore limits mounting options. The mounting post, three to four inches tall makes it difficult to mount the solar panel discreetly. I ended up making my own mounts so that i could lay the panel on the roof rather than protruding above the roof, a cleaner look and discreetly hidden. For another installation i had to make a mounting block because the eaves facia was tilted inward and there was a tile roof. Provided mount would not work as provided.

I have 3 of these connected to my outdoor ring cameras. These are a must have if you use the battery operated version of the ring cameras. Who wants to take the batteries out, recharge them, reset the camera so it will reconnect? The process itself is a hassle. Much monthly work so these solar panels eliminate those tedious tasks the ring cameras require. These things are a blessing, but you have to have an area that gets a fair amount of light to recharge them. I think they work great.

I got 4 of these ‘refurbished’ ones that were listed as used ‘acceptable.’. They were in excellent condition, though. I didn’t expect them to still charge my stickup camera battery without direct sunlight but it seems to charge when there was minimal sunlight… Like there was a shadow of a palm tree over the solar panel but it still charges, slowly but it did. My battery went from 37% at 5 pm when i installed it to 39% at 8 pm after the sun had already set an hour before. I checked again the next day around 5 pm and noticed that my batteries were already at 100% charged (i installed 4 of them on 4 different cameras). My wired doorbell didn’t even charge the doorbell battery to 50% after a day. Someone did a horrible job with low power to my doorbell but i can’t find the origin (the transformer) anywhere, so i just let it be and it finally charged to 100% after 10 days. These solar panels charged my stickup battery cameras in less than a day, so i’m really happy with the result. I, of course, install these in direct sunlight (direct most of the day) but part of the day, the palm tree casts its shadow over the panel near sunset.

I have 3 solar chargers for my security cameras. These work perfectly. I never have to worry about battery life or spend my time getting batteries out charge and replace. Should also be mentioned i run at max settings and never worry about whether or not batteries are full.

They do what they’re supposed to do really like them it get tiring having to charge the battery so it’s been nice not having to worry about doing that anymore

The batteries in my ring camera are great and last about a month before needing charging. When i need to charge them, it takes 6-8 hours. When i would put the batteries back in, the app seemed to struggle to reconnect. Now, my batteries don’t need to be charged anymore. Great investment.

Very easy to install. We didn’t even have to call our adult sons to come over to install. A great time saver, we don’t have to climb a ladder to remove the battery, charge it then replace the battery.

I’ll start with what’s to love. The large solar panel works great. Even in winter when the days are short and mostly overcast, the panel collects enough sunlight to keep the ring spotlight fully charged. Mine has not dropped below 100% since i installed it, and that’s with the single battery (not the optional second battery that you can add to the spotlight camera). The power cable is long enough to give you flexibility where to place the panel relative to the ring spotlight camera.

Now to the design flaw, and this is potentially a biggie depending on where you want to install it. The mount only has a 2d swivel, meaning that you can pivot the panel up/down only in one direction. It desperately needs a 3d ball-type swivel so that you can pivot the panel in any direction (or at least a second 2d swivel so you can pivot the panel in two directions). The reason this is a big problem is that it severely restricts where you can affix the mount and tilt the panel toward the sun. In my case, i have my spotlight camera mounted on a west-facing wall, and i need to mount my solar panel on either that same west wall or on the roof, which also slopes down toward the west. And since the sun rises in the east, that means that my solar panel is out of the sunlight for half the day unless i can also angle the panel slightly to the south. Since the mount has only a 2d swivel, i can only tilt the panel up/down facing directly to the west – it’s not possible to tilt it up toward the sky and slightly toward the south to maximize exposure to the sun’s path. I could have mounted the panel on my roof, but that would require drilling holes through the shingles. Not only is drilling holes through shingles a great way to guarantee costly water damage and dry rot, it’s also inherently unstable since you’re mounting a relatively top heavy device through at least one and as many as three layers of shingle to get to the underlying plywood (or mdf, which is even more of a recipe for an unstable long term mounting). I ended up having to mount the panel just below my gutter, extending out (to the west) past the gutter and angled directly up, nearly flat like a table. Unfortunately, that means i get very little of the morning sun and am entirely dependent on capturing afternoon/evening sunlight. Luckily, the panel captures enough sunlight in the afternoon that it keeps the battery charged. However, if i had a ring spotlight camera on the north side of my house where my driveway and neighbor’s house are, there is no way whatsoever that i could mount the panel in any place where it would capture enough sunlight to provide any charge to the spotlight camera. It would be in the shade 100% of the time.

I would definitely give the panel 5-stars if it had the 3d swivel capability. Until then, it’s great for mounting in a direct southern exposure. It’s good for mounting in a western exposure, and presumably an eastern exposure as well. I question how well it would work mounted on a north-facing wall unless it was high enough that you could angle it flat or slightly to the south.

Give these an adjustable mount… Not just up and down but left and right as well. The sun often crosses the sky at an angle so up/down helps but misses out on solid direct sunlight.

The picture above shows a dual camera and solar panel mount with full adjustability.

Need to expose to direct sunlight for more than 3 hours (as stated in the instruction) in order to fully charge the battery. Have another one installed on area that does not get direct sunlight normally, just manage to charge the battery 4-5% a day.

Using to maintain the battery for the camera

So i have things in my yard that are constantly causing the motion sensor on the spotlight cam to be triggered. I made zones to eliminate as much of that motion as i could, but it still drains the battery like crazy. I used this for that exact use and it worked pretty well for 3 years. If i had a lot of wind, the battery would still die or get too low for the camera to function properly, but it would charge by the next day. A couple weeks ago, the battery died and would not charge with this solar panel. I charged it the old way- plugging it in, and tried various things to get the solar charger working as the battery drained, but nothing worked. Nothing is damaged and everything was properly plugged in.

So for $20 a year, you can solar charge the battery, but plan on replacing it after a few years.

This was easy enough to install on the former ring panel bracket- it slipped right on. The positive difference is that this seems to charge much better than the ring solar panel did in the location which is somewhat under the roof eaves. The ring panel just didn’t work in the location and i resorted to just laying it on top of the roof unsecured which allowed it to better absorb sunlight but it would often blow off the roof. This one works fine in the partial shade-1 month now and camera battery still at 100%.

This solar panel is keeping my battery at 100% under overcast seattle skies. I purchased it a week ago for $39.99 and was planning to buy a second one. Today’s price is $59.99 – a 50% jump in price! No sale!

When working, it’s great and it brings my camera to a 100% charge! The solar panel though tends to get ‘disconnected’ from the camera (a few times a week) and stops communicating with the camera. (i’ve had the camera and solar panel now for a little over one month.) the cord isn’t literally disconnected – it’s actually connected as always – but the app on your phone tells you its disconnected and you can see it’s not recharging the battery. I usually have to fiddle with the camera functions on the app – turning motion detection on and off a few times and then the camera and solar panel start speakiing to each other again. A few times i had to go outside and climb a ladder and literally disconnect and re-connect the cable. I see this is reported online already with complaints. Ring would do good to work on this in a next product upgrade.

These are able to keep a good charge on my ring cameras evn though i placed them in an area that dose not get full exposure to the sun