Ring Solar Charger for Battery Doorbell (1st Gen)

I read the negative reviews before buying and decided that there were enough counterpoints to decide that the people having problems were having issues with what they have done, not with the charger. Like all solar panels, this is a trickle charger. It will generally only trickle power in slowly. However, having direct sun access is crucial because... well, its a solar panel. The sun tops the houses across the street from me early in the morning and climbs up above the edge of my roof above the door about four hours later. With that limited amount of direct sun, my Battery Doorbell Pro's battery will add about 20% charge per day thanks to this panel. Some Ring doorbells use 'optimized charging' where the cell is supposed to only charge up to a max of 80%. This 80% limit can be difficult to trigger for reasons beyond the scope of this review, but I found that on the BD Pro, if the cell is already fully charged prior to the solar charger's installation, the solar panel will do absolutely nothing until the battery gets down to about 70%. Only then will the solar charger start charging. When it does, it charges up to only 80% (stopping at 81%, actually). From there, with the sun I get, the solar charger will maintain between 70 and 80% battery charge indefinitely. I have the DBPro set to take snapshots every three minutes and do everything else that eats extra battery power. The direct sun access I get lets me do that. If your direct sun is less, you will have to adjust your settings to eat less power, or get used to the solar panel just extending battery life rather than making it never-ending. The exception to the above is the initial charge of the battery. When I installed my solar charger, I only had about a 38% charge on the battery. The solar charger added 20% per day until I was up to 100%... and then it seemingly did nothing for days until the battery slowly dipped down to 70%. Then it magically started up again into the cycle I describe above. Here again if you have limited sun access, you might not see this kind of clear result and it may look like the charger isn't doing anything.

I’m extremely happy with this Ring Solar Charger. Installation was quick and straightforward, and once connected it immediately started maintaining the battery on my Ring camera. Since installing it, I’ve noticed a huge difference in battery life , and I no longer have to constantly remove the camera to recharge it manually. The build quality feels durable and weather-resistant, which is important for outdoor use. Even on cloudy days, it still seems to provide enough charging power to keep the battery going strong. I also like that it blends in nicely with the camera setup and doesn’t look bulky or cheap. Pros: • Easy installation process • Helps maintain battery life consistently • Durable and weather-resistant design • Saves time from frequent manual charging • Works well even with partial sunlight • Definitely a game charger for me because I’m back and forth from NC to NY , and I don’t have to worry about a battery dying . Cons: • Charging speed depends on direct sunlight exposure • Mounting location may require adjustment for best performance • Slightly more expensive than generic solar chargers Overall, this is definitely worth the investment if you own a Ring camera , and want a more convenient, low-maintenance setup. It has made using my security camera much easier and more reliable.

UPDATE No. 2: It's winter weather now. We've had snow, rain, temps in the single digits at night, several cloudy days in a row and, the battery level went as low as 45%. Overall, I'm very pleased with this purchase and I can recommend it as a good investment. I should think though, just in case, a second standby battery would still be a good idea. 45% is good but, not a guarantee it wouldn't go kiwer if the weather changed to even worse. Cold weather does drag the system for sure. UPDATE: You can read my original review below, but I was wrong. It does charge. When the battery gets to around 85% charge the solar mount's battery, that has stored it's charge from the sun, will charge the doorbell to around 90%. So add a star to the rating. Been using it about a week. This hasn't been tested yet in the winter, so if there's a change I'll update again. ORIGINAL REVIEW: I should note; to me, battery discharge due to usage is kind of how it all works. I didn't go into the Ring battery doorbell world thinking that I will never have to replace/recharge the battery. How often that occurs is the challenge. If I followed all the suggestions from Ring to lengthen the Interval, the doorbell/camera combo would essentially be just a doorbell that occasionally provided video of something or someone close because every setting available, meaning all the selling points that attracted me to buy it, would be in their lowest setting or off, and that is the major complaint about Ring security products. I bought the solar mount in hopes of lengthening the change/charge interval. Not eliminate it. After reading the reviews, the average conclusion was just that. Add my conclusion to that category. In my area there is a lot of activity. Cars, walkers, animals from the woods. I've adjusted the zone to just one, right in front of the door and a bit to either side. All of the settings are maxed, but I do not use the Bird's Eye View. It's a great feature but for the area I'm concentrating on, it has no purpose. Without the solar panel I was dropping 6 to 8 percent per day of battery charge. With the solar, 2 sometimes 3. A great improvement and one I accept. I can recommend this product knowing it improves battery life, but does not eliminate the need to change it out (I have 2 batteries). I also want to point out that this is now the warm/hot spring and summer months. I've read that cold weather causes the battery to drain quicker. Time will tell and I may be back to fill you in during the cold weather months. No promises.

So I’ve had this for about 3 years now. I’ve lived in apartment buildings and have used a holder to attach it to my door, it’s never been hardwired. For the most part it’s always maintained a charge to the point I only had to charge it once a month which wasn’t bad but for the past year its charge has had a hard time now I have to charge it once every few days which is kind of annoying. I always find it updating all the time so I don’t know if it’s the actual battery or if this thing is updating so damn much it’s draining the battery faster all I know is I have a friend who does the same thing but with SimpliSafe he’s had his camera/cameras for 5-6 years and the doorbell one that’s not hardwired keeps a charge still for a long time he charges his once a month and he said it’s at around 25% when he charges it. So as much as I enjoyed this for the first couple years it’s time to move on to something better, it’s been a good run.

I have had the original version of this for a little over 2 years, and have now purchased the newer version, which has the same product title, and looks like it is the same product. The newer one has a new AMZN page, but I think they are the same product: Original AMZN page (currently unavailable): https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B085DVTYHN New AMZN page: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0B3F9LS2G Here are my experiences with the product over the past 2+ years. I have just replaced it with the newer one and don't have enough experience yet to say if it is identical or not. My installation placement was so that it received full sun for several hours. It works pretty good, and kept the Ring doorbell charged for many months in all seasons. I did have problems and had to manually remove and recharge the Ring camera when we had a week or more of clouds and rain--in that case, the Ring battery went to zero after about a week or so. I have replaced the product now because the original one will no longer charge the camera due to the 3 solar panels being totally degraded. Orginal panels are slick and shiny, but 2+ years old panels look like black sandpaper. They no longer produce any power. Overall, for the price it's a good product, even if it has to be replaced every couple of years. That works out to about $25 a year, plus the bother of re-installing the new one, which just went right back where the old one already was -- same mounting holes, screws, size, etc. I put the same old Ring camera back on the new solar charger. If this little solar charger won't work for you, then you probably need a remote solar panel. Look for the ones sold (or similar with the right connector you need) for the Ring Stickup cams. Those are large panels, and can be placed at a distance and are easier to face towards the sun. I have several of those with Stickup Cams, and I've never had to manually recharge those batteries that are connected to the large panels, even during those long cloudy rainy periods.

My first purchase of the solar doorbell was not compatible with my 3rd gen doorbell. I returned and have purchased another. Will update and review when received. 𝗨𝗣𝗗𝗔𝗧𝗘: Doorbell solar panel has been installed. Doorbell operating very efficiently as before. I did charge up batteries to 100% before installing solar panel. Today has been a rainy day but I’m currently surveilling at 99% battery life! So far…SO GOOD! Definitely worth the buy and preventing me from risking a fall from my ladder every 20-30 days having to recharge batteries! 𝗨𝗣𝗗𝗔𝗧𝗘: 𝗜 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗴𝗲𝗱 𝗺𝘆 𝗱𝗼𝗼𝗿𝗯𝗲𝗹𝗹 𝗯𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗹𝗮𝘀𝘁 2 𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗸𝘀 𝗮𝗴𝗼 𝗼𝗻 𝗧𝗵𝘂𝗿𝘀𝗱𝗮𝘆. 𝗧𝗼𝗱𝗮𝘆 𝗶𝘀 𝗪𝗲𝗱𝗯𝗲𝘀𝗱𝗮𝘆, 𝗶𝘁'𝘀 𝗯𝗲𝗲𝗻 2 𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗸𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗼𝗱𝗮𝘆 𝗺𝘆 𝗱𝗼𝗼𝗿𝗯𝗲𝗹𝗹 𝗯𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗶𝘀 𝗼𝗻 30% 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗶𝘁 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗯𝗲. 𝗠𝘆 𝘀𝗼𝗹𝗮𝗿 𝗶𝘀 𝗳𝗮𝗰𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝘂𝗻. 𝗜𝘁 𝗵𝗮𝘀 𝗯𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝘀𝘂𝗻𝗻𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗵𝗼𝘁 𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗟𝗮𝗯𝗼𝗿 𝗱𝗮𝘆. 𝗜 𝗮𝗺 𝗾𝘂𝗶𝘁𝗲 𝘂𝗽𝘀𝗲𝘁. 𝗜 𝗺𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗹𝘆 𝗵𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗻𝗼𝗻𝗴. 𝗜 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝘀𝗼 𝗼𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗰 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀. 𝗔𝗹𝗹 𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝘀𝗼𝗹𝗮𝗿 𝗮𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗵𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗵𝗮𝘀 𝗯𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗲𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲. UPDATE 8/14/24. It’s been 2 and a half months since my purchase and there has not been any progress. My doorbell keeps charge for a maximum of 5 days (my settings are high) Of course because I purchased the solar panel, I made my alert settings on my doorbell high and frequent. This has caused my doorbell battery to run down very quickly because my solar isn’t charging. My return capability has run out so I’m stuck with this panel that’s pretty much useless and I’m at a lost! I didn’t expect this from RING! 𝓤𝓟𝓓𝓐𝓣𝓔 8/26/24 I’m so annoyed by this waste of purchase! I hope Ring sees this. My doorbell is the only system not holding or taking any charge from my solar panel! Do not purchase!

Purchased Sept 2024. I only get 2 to 3 hours of direct sunlight but the charger was keeping the the battery at around 75%. I was happy with it. During January and February not as much sun, colder weather and battery got down to 50%. I decided to remove the doorbell and charge it. When putting it back the wire that plugs into the doorbell did not go back into the slot and became pinched between the doorbell charger. I did not notice it and It must have broke the wires inside as it does not charge now. Be careful when mounting and make sure the wire does not not get pinched. Even after I removed the doorbell and reinstalled without the wire pinched still not working. It could be designed a little better to prevent this. REVISED. Ring support contacted me and he ran test and determined the solar panel was not charging. SO, Ring Customer Service is great. Unfortunately I have an older doorbell unit and was unable work with the newest solar panel. They did offer me some credit towards an updated doorbell. I updated to 5 stars because of follow up with Ring

It's a waste of money. I used Ring solar panel for another Ring Video Doorbell and that one works quite well. I purchased this Ring Video Battery doorbell with in-built battery and only this charger is compatible with it. So I got this one. The doorbell was not holding charge for very long even with the solar charger. I wish I could return both but you would not know how it works until it's too late to return. UPDATE: Ring does take customer service seriously. After the above review Ring customer service reached out and offered options to resolve the issue. Not only initially the doorbell was replaced by the same model, they allowed the device to be upgraded to a latest removable battery model, Doorbell 2k Plus, where only the price difference needed to be paid, and swapped the solar charger as well. One major issue that was identified was the Wi-Fi signal in that location which was causing the battery to drain faster. Based on this, I am changing the rating from 1 to 4 stars.

Passando in genere 10 ore al giorno a lavoro cercavo un citofono che mi permettesse di essere presente virtualmente in casa. Preso ad un ottimo prezzo con il prime day e associato al suo pannello solare per la ricarica posso dire che fa egregiamente il suo lavoro. Ero spaventato da alcune recensioni che parlavano di ritarti e di richieste perse ecc. Io l'ho installato al posto del vecchio citofono a circa 10 metri dalla porta ( ho un vialetto ) e nonstante il segnale wifi non sia eccenzionale a quella distanza, non ho avuto bisogno di nessun estensore di segnale o access point. ( ho una 2,5 giga come connessione ) L'installazione è facile e il suo pannello solare mi ha permesso di isolarlo dalla rete elettrica garantendo sempre una ricarica giornaliera di circa il 10% a fronte di una scarica del 2% e questo nonostante non sia esposto a sud e le ore di sole siano circa 4/5. Non ho notato ritardi ne tra l'effettivo utilizzo del campanello, sia nella relativa comunicazione con l'app. Ottimo anche l'audio biderzionale.

Ce chargeur solaire associé à la sonnette Battery Vidéo Dorbell est extrêmement efficace et très facile à installer. La batterie de ma sonnette reste chargée en permanence à 100%. Il n'est plus nécessaire de l'enlever de son socle pour la recharger : zéro manipulation ! Par contre la livraison a été plutôt longue : + de 3 semaines.

Fonctionne très bien

Después de instalarlo apenas he tenido que preocuparme por la batería del videoportero. Con una buena exposición al sol mantiene la carga sin problemas y evita tener que desmontar el dispositivo para recargarlo con frecuencia. La instalación es sencilla y los materiales transmiten buena calidad. Un accesorio muy recomendable para sacar aún más partido al videoportero Ring.

Me ha solucionado el problema de la batería del timbre. Para mí era un rollo cargar la batería cada “x” tiempo y ahora con esta solución puedo despreocuparme de este tema.