Why Is My Solar Panel Not Charging My Ring
The first thing you need to do if you have a Ring device that isnt charging through a solar panel is detach the wire. There may be obstructions inside the wire plug. Attaching the solar panel with the device was the first thing you should do if there are two issues. If the problem doesnt go away, check it out!
Works With Ring Security Cameras
Do more with your Security Camera and connect it to an array of compatible devices to help create a smarter, secure home.
Connect Your Ring of Security
Link Security Cameras and all your Ring devices to the Ring App to make your security work better together, so you can control them all from your phone or tablet.
Alexa, show me my camera.
Enjoy hands-free home monitoring with select Alexa-enabled devices, so you can hear custom notifications from Echo Dot, launch video with Echo Show and more.
Open Doors Right From the App
See whos there with Security Cameras, and open doors for friends and family right from the Ring App with select smart door locks like Schlage Encode.2
Picking The Correct Solar Panel For Your Environment
The Ring Solar Panel and Super Solar Panel are designed to provide power for charging the Ring Stick Up Cam and Spotlight Cam. Which product is right for you depends on two important factors:
- Number of Motion Events per day: If your Ring device is in an area that detects more events every day than average then your battery will drain faster and require more power or recharging more often.
- Your Solar Environment: Warmer climates and areas that get less rain and cloud cover will get more kW of solar energy per day than rainier or cloudier zones. In such areas, having a larger solar panel may be a necessity for powering your Ring device.
To help you make your decision, the following chart will tell you which version of the Ring Solar Panel best fits your needs.
Recommended Reading: How To Charge Ev With Solar Panels
Ring Stick Up Cam Battery
Add security anywhere inside or out with the versatile Stick Up Cam Battery. Its wire-free design means you can put it where you need it and move it when you need to. Place it on a flat surface for flexibility or mount it to a wall for a more permanent solution. With Stick Up Cam Battery, youll always be connected to home so you can see whats happening at anytime.
Ring Stick Up Cam Review: Ring’s Solar
Despite its neat solar panel accessory, Ring’s Stick Up Cam has fewer features than our favorite DIY security cameras.
Megan Wollerton
Senior Writer/Editor
Megan Wollerton has covered technology for CNET since 2013. Before that, she wrote for NBC’s Dvice.com . Megan has a master’s degree from the University of Louisville and a bachelor’s degree from Connecticut College, both in international relations. She is a board member of the Louisville chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. When Megan isn’t writing, she’s planning far-flung adventures.
Editor’s note : Amazon, which acquired Ring in February 2018, announced a second generation Ring Stick Up Cam that ships to customers on October 14th, 2018.
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Ring Stick Up Cam Not Recognizing Solar Panel: Troubleshooting Steps
Despite the success and reliability of the 3rd generation Ring Stick Up Cam, like any piece of sophisticated equipment, it may give you problems, including recognizing the Ring Solar Panel hookup, which is designed almost exclusively for the Stick Up Cam.
However, no problem is unsolvable, and there are some troubleshooting steps worth trying to get your Ring Stick Up Cam to charge in the sun. Below, well cover a few issues you may encounter with your Ring Stick Up Cam/Solar Panel combo and how to fix them.
Ensure The Devices Arent Affected By Moisture Or Debris
This is a battery-powered device, after all, so theres always a weather factor involved. If youre installing the solar panel in the winter, you want to make sure that the batteries are properly charged first and charge them indoors if possible before installing the solar panel:
The Stick Up Cam may not connect immediately until the Ring Solar Panel has had some time to gather energy in direct sunlight.
Recommended Reading: How To Make Your House Run On Solar Power
Comparing Outdoor Security Cameras
| IFTTT, Samsung SmartThings | Wink |
While the Stick Up Cam’s specs may look roughly comparable to other outdoor security cameras, it falls short in a couple of key ways. First, you have to pay for cloud storage. While select DIY security companies do charge a monthly or yearly fee for cloud storage, more and more brands are offering some sort of free option.
Netgear’s Arlo and Arlo Pro cameras, Canary’s Flex and Nest Cam Outdoor all offer free cloud video clips or photos of activity, with the option of upgrading to a paid subscription as needed. Ring charges customers $3 per month or $30 per year for its event-based cloud service. $30 isn’t a ton of money to spend, but I wish Ring could somehow include customers who either don’t need or don’t want to pay for six months of storage.
Second, the Stick Up Cam’s 80-degree field of view is pretty narrow. The competition ranges from 110 to 130 degrees, which can make a significant difference in how much of your front yard, driveway or back yard the camera is able to see.
Getting To Know Your Stick Up Cam
The Ring Stick Up Cam is a discreet outdoor-rated security camera with a black finish. It comes with a couple of different base attachments and related hardware. A screwdriver and a drill bit are included with your purchase, too, to help you with the install.
For simplicity and to avoid making permanent holes in the CNET Smart Home, I placed a Stick Up Cam on a flat surface during testing instead of attaching it to a wall or ceiling. You’ll want to go with something more long-term if you buy one, since wind and other weather changes can easily knock an outdoor camera out of position. They’re easier for someone to steal that way, too.
I wouldn’t say the Stick Up Cam has an especially attractive design, but it did easily blend in with the surroundings. Its hardware felt durable as well, and it survived wind and snow flurries without complaint.
Take a look at the chart below to see how Ring’s Stick Up Cam compares to other outdoor cameras:
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Linking In Other Ring Camera Devices
If you have a Ring Doorbell, smart build or another stickup camera its very easy in the Camera settings to link events between them. e.g.
If Ring Door Bell 2 detects motion then capture video from Backyard Stick Up Camera.
This is a nice touch and Im sure over time we will see a lot more of these kinds of integrations between devices.
Ring Stick Up Cam Not Recognizing Solar Panel: Troubleshooting
The above reasons listed are some of the more common ones. As far as reading the wrong message, its worth mentioning that many customers are confused when they see the message, add a solar panel, when the solar panel has already been installed.
The thing is, thats just an advert, albeit one that Ring should remove and display elsewhere, because its confusing to those who have just added their solar panel. Its just Ring trying to get you to purchase a new solar panel, and its not an indication that yours isnt working. With that said, the following are a few troubleshooting steps you can try if there is a technical issue involved.
Also Check: How Much Do Solar Panels Lower Your Electric Bill
Sris Residence Richmond Hill On
Sri was paying around $150 per month on his hydro bill but was thinking of going solar for many years to save money and the environment.When the Canadian government introduced the $5,600 Greener homes grant Sri saw that as a great opportunity and called SolarUp for a quote.Sri has a Tesla car and is getting another EV very soon so he had SolarUp design an 11.7KW solar system to offset his current and future electrical consumption.SolarUp installed 26 top-of-line Longi solar panels along with 26 SolarEdge Power Optimizers to ensure proper solar panel system monitoring. The new solar panel system will be generating 13,116 kWh annually and Sri will see a complete ROI within 8 years or less.
Ring B0781z7v6v Black Solar Panel For Stick Up Cam Battery
Connects to Stick Up Cam Battery* and Spotlight Cam Battery* for a continuous charge, so youll never run out of power. ** Ring recommends at least 3-4 hours of direct sunlight, depending on your usage.
Features:
- Non-Stop Solar Power for Spotlight and Stick Up CamA few hours of sunlight everyday will keep your Spotlight Cam Battery or Stick Up Cam Battery charged around the clock, so youll never run out of power. With an included tool kit and cable, youll be set up in just a few minutes.
Footnotes:
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Purchases Refunds And Warranties
Does Ring Solar Panel have a warranty?
Yes, a 1-year parts and labor and lifetime theft protection.
For more information on Ring’s Limited Warranty and Theft Protection Plan.
What is Ring’s refund policy?
You have 30 days from the date you received your device to request a full refund. You are responsible for covering the cost of return shipping.
What if someone steals my Ring Solar Panel?
If stolen, we will replace it for free. Simply send a copy of the police report to [email protected] and well ship you a replacement Panel.
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New Stick Up Camera Unboxing Video
To summarise in advance of all the detail its fair to say this new Ring Stick Up Camera with Solar panel works as described, which is to say it works great. The solar charges more than enough, the picture quality is great and the app does the business. But there are a couple of things wed like to see improved in the next model.
Don’t Miss: Get Paid To Go Solar
Rings New Indoor/outdoor Stick Up Camera Delivers Diy Security With Ease
DIY Home security is a huge growing trend. The ability to have a wireless security camera that sends you notifications to your phone and allows for 2 way audio, lets you trigger an alarm or simply store a record of activity as video in the cloud is a huge step forward in the last decade of home security.
> You can see our review of all the available solar powered outdoor wireless security cameras here.<
After reviewing all the available solar-powered wireless security cameras weve landed on the New Ring Stick Up Camera in the Amazon Ring range of home security devices.
So, why did we pick it, how does it perform and is it worth it?
Ring Stick Up Cam Battery Features
The Stick Up Cam is very slightly bigger than its indoor cousin, measuring 3.82 inches tall and 2.36 inches in diameter without its stand . It can operate on any flat surface, like a tabletop, or you can detach its swivel base and re-attach it to the back so you can mount it on a wall. You will need a $20 accessory to mount the camera on a ceilingthats pricey, even if it does come with all the screws and tools youll need.
Twisting a bayonet-style base provides access to the cameras removable battery, and Ring provides a set screw that will prevent a thief from casually nicking it. A second set screw can be used to make it more difficult to remove the camera from its mount when its attached to a wall. Unlike Rings Video Doorbell 2, however, both screws have a Philips head. The companys doorbell uses a Torx-head screw, requiring a tool that thieves are less likely to have in their pockets.
Michael Brown / IDG
The Ring Stick Up Cam has crude motion detection zones compared to other Ring camera models.
The indoor/outdoor model delivers the same 1080p resolution as the cheaper indoor model, but it has a slightly narrower field of view: 110 degrees horizontal and 57 degrees vertical, compared to 115 and 60 degrees respectively for the Indoor Cam. But its motion-detection zones are more crude: You can toggle three wedge-shaped detection zones on or off, and you can adjust the sensitivity of the active zones as a whole, but you cant adjust the width or depth of the wedges.
Recommended Reading: Ring Spotlight Cam Solar Panel
What Are My Average Peak Sun Hours
Knowing the average peak sun hours where you live is the one of the best ways to determine if you should go the solar route. Depending on your location, youll see a major difference in the average peak sunlight hours. The United States averages between 3 to 5 peak sun hours in most areas.
Select the city closest to you to determine your average peak sunlight hours, or select another city in the solar sun map to compare how peak sun hours vary from state to state:
Stick Up Cam’s Main Competition:
Keep in mind that your camera depends on a decent Wi-Fi connection. You might find a great place to install your camera, but if your network doesn’t work well in that spot, you might want to look for a new location or consider investing in a Wi-Fi range extender. You can always click on “Device Health” in the Ring app to view the strength of your Wi-Fi network when in doubt.
Once you’ve connected your Stick Up Cam, you can immediately view the live feed. You’ll automatically get 30 days of free access to the cloud service so you can see if it’s something you want to invest in later on.
The app layout is mostly intuitive, with your camera and any related motion activity displayed on the main screen. If you click on your camera — I labeled mine “Backyard” — you get access to a lot more features. This is where you can pull up the live feed, opt-in or -out of motion alerts and set custom motion zones and schedules.
Taking a peek inside Ring’s iPhone app.
While I received the motion alerts promptly, I found the live stream to be surprisingly grainy even when the Device Health section of the app told me my Wi-Fi signal was “Very Good.” While that isn’t a total dealbreaker, it did make 720-pixel HD look more like a 640×480 VGA SD feed. Not ideal.
Read Also: How Much Does One Solar Panel Cost
What Are Peak Sun Hours
Peak sun hours differ from hours of daylight the peak sun hour actually describes the intensity of sunlight in a specific area, defined as an hour of sunlight that reaches an average of 1,000 watts of power per square meter .
Although your panels may get an average of 7 hours of daylight a day, the average peak sun hours are generally around 4 or 5. Solar radiation peaks at solar noon, when the sun reaches the highest point in the sky.
The number of peak sun hours you get per day increases the closer you are to the equator and typically during the summer months.
Ensure The Ring Stick Up Cam Is Installed Correctly
For the solar panel to work correctly, it must be installed correctly. If yours isnt working, its worth retreating your steps back to the beginning to see if you installed anything the wrong way.
Since youre troubleshooting, odds are that youve already chosen where you want to install the Ring Solar Panel, so theres no sense in backtracking that far.
Its a really simple installation process, but you want to ensure that the ring barrel plug is correctly inserted into the charging port on the Ring Stick Up Cam and gives the solar panel some time to charge.
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Ring Stick Up Camera Installation
These pictures give you a small insight into my temporary set up. I did it this way to test the camera angle and placement before securely fixing it to the soffit.
If youre thinking that someone can just come, grab it and take it away, youre right but Ring has built-in two security screws which fixes it to its base and secures the battery compartment. These screws are included in the box and are easily fitted. While it might not stop someone ripping it from its spot, it will definitely slow someone down who may try, or simply to try tamper with it to disable it i.e youll have warning itls happening.
I dont like screwing holes in the outside of houses so Ill be mounting mine, at least to start, with double-sided outdoor 3m tape.
This installation is a temporary mash together job Ive done which works fine but I wanted to test it before finally mounting. The wiring looks terrible but Ill make it pretty in the end.
