Arlo Solar Panel - First Impressions

[skingspan]

I have been looking forward to getting the Arlo Solar panel since I purchased my system last November.  I have a 2 camera system.  My driveway camera gets a lot of activity, I have to charge it about every 2 or three months.  My front door camera gets very little activity, I just recently charged it for the first time after 8 months.  So no need for solar  panel on the front door.  The way my house is oriented (facing north) I would not be able to put the panel in a place where it would get enough sun anyway.  My driveway camera faces west but is on a corner so the panel can face south for maximum exposure.

The solar panel comes with one of the mounts that Arlo sells for the cameras seems pretty sturdy, is adjustable and easy to install.   The first issue I ran across was the connector for power cord connector for the camera.  It protrudes quite a bit so I am no longer able to angle the camera down as it interferes with the factory mount.  I still get pretty much what I need but it is not ideal.  I think one of the upgraded mounts that arlo sells would resolve the issue for me.

When the sun is out the camera shows charging from about 9am to 4pm.  Should be sufficient to keep the camera charged.  I installed the camera yesterday and started out at 100% and it still at 100%.  I am curious to see if I can maintain a full charge going forward especially when winter rolls around and the sun is lower and there is less daylight.  Time will tell.

The app tells you when the panel is charging the camera with a little charging icon in the app.  So I should get a sense of how well the panel will maintain the charge by watching it for a few months.

I have a little concern about how well the panel will hold up through a new england winter with snow and ice but the camera did fine last winter so I have hope for the panel.  The manual said to wipe the dust off the panel every few months to maximize charging but I mounted my panel pretty high so I would need an extension ladder to clean it.  I did notice some water spots on the panel after some rain but I don't think that will interfere with performance much.

As far as the price goes I think $70 is pretty steep, I would have been happier paying $50 but it is worth it not to have to charge the camera every few months. 

Hope this helps anyone thinking of picking up the panel.  Let me know if you have any questions.

[JamesC]

skingspan,

Thanks for posting and letting us know your feedback!

JamesC

[SBP]

How is it going with your panel?

I cannot seem to get either of mine to work correctly with the Arlo Go's.

I have them both connected, no visual charging of the battery with the lightning bar through the battery.  It did one time and that was it.

Both batteries were charged to 100% and one is now down to 92% the other 84% in the matter of two days.  Both only run 12 hour shifts with maybe 10 triggers per session.

Total sunshine and faced correctly in those two days.  I have switched them around with each camera. Still nothing.  So I don't know if I'm not getting a charge or if they just will not maintain an Arlo Go.  They definitely use more power than the Arlo Pro.  I find they use between 15 to 20% power per day, that is on the best battery setting, short clips, no audio alerts.

Frustrating.... 

[skingspan]

I am using the pro cameras so I have no experience with the go cameras.  My camera connected to the panel seems to be maintaining a full charge.  We had a few cloudy days this week where the panel did not charge the battery at all but a few hours of sun today and they are back to 100%.

My recommendations to you are:

1.  If possible, make sure you panels are facing south.   That will maximize the amount of sun that will hit your panels.

2.  Ensure that there are no trees between your panels and the sun.   If trees are blocking the sun the panels will not charge.  If you cant see the sun from where your panel is facing you won't get any charge. 

4.  Don;t expect much on cloudy days.  I have 26 PV solar energy generating panels on my roof.  On a full sunny day they generate 36 kwh.  More power than I use most days.  On a cloudy, rainy day I may generate 3kwh.  One tiny solar panel is not going to do anything (even charge a battery) if there is no sun.

5.  Optimal angle for the panel is about 45 degrees plus or minus a few degrees depending on where you live.

6.  On a full sunny day I see the lighning/charging bar from around 10am to 3:30 pm.  If you are not seeing it my guess is your panels are not getting enough direct sunlight.

Good luck and I hope this helps.

[jguerdat]

Also, I find the connector to be difficult (for me anyways) to get plugged in properly. Are you sure the connector is fully seated in the camera?  I have to wiggle it around to find the exact position to get it plugged in properly.

[Drake3287]

As for the Arlo mount working with these panels, from the very start I removed that small, round plastic nut that comes with the mounts, they only block access for the power cord. My camera's are still secure without it and haven't moved a bit. I think a lot of people don't realize you don't really need this plastic nut. Certainly helps but it's not required for a tight fit.

[SBP]

Thank you for the information skingspan.

I used the solar app for getting my panel in the correct angle. It is on top of my garage with no shading ever.

I too fought...fight with the little connectors.  I have always hated micro-USB and with all the extra gasketing on these it is a real pain. 

It has been full sun, clear cloudless days.   I'm thinking these panels just don't put out enough for the Go's.  I'm going to hook up to a Pro and see what happens. 

I'm now going to drill a hole through the wall and connect that Go  via the cord.  I can't keep climbing up on the roof every couple days.  I was quite enthousiastic when the panel came out. Not so happy with this purchase for the Go.  I'll keep trying with the other one and see if I can configure to maintain a charge.  If I can't do it now with the longest days of the year, blue skies and here in the High Desert  of Central Oregon,  there is no way it will work any other time.

[Drake3287]

Although I don't own an Arlo Go, but these Solar Panels are suppose to work with it. Hold off on drilling a hole and running a cord, something's not right. These solar panel cords/plug are a very tight fit (for wet weather) but they do work. I've had my solar panels plugged and unplugged several times. 

[SBP]

Thank you Drake3287

I will be using the weatherproof charger/cable that came with the Go.   

At this point, I'm under the impression the panel just will not hold up to the Go's power requirements, or maybe I'm just unlucky.

I will work more with the one Go , but the other needs to be reliable, hence hardwired perse.   It's not a hard job to do and since it is around a beam, it will not show and can be sealed up easily. 

I am loving the Go.  It is faster than the Pros, also the motion detection is much further than rated.  Mine is picking up at a good 40-50ft and very quick seeings how I have it set at about 70% motion sensitivity to help conserve battery.  Just not impressed with the panel at this point, time will tell.

[jguerdat]

My use of the solar panel with a Go has proven to work well, keeping the battery more or less charged when cloudy and fully charging when in long enough direct sunlight. However, the lack of a charging symbol indicates that 1) the connection isn't complete, 2) the panel is faulty of 3) the camera charging port is faulty. Rather than working around the issue, fixing it properly would be the best solution.

[BigDennis57]

Good Afternoon!

I installed two solar panels this past weekend and they seem to be doing fine. I installed fully charged batteries into the units and spent the time to correctly position the solar panels. I have chargin icons on both units, HOWEVER one of the batteries is the outline of a battery, with a lightening bolt and the other is a filled in black battery, with a lightening bolt. I am assuming that possibly the outlined one is not quite as charged as the black filled one? The black one is at 100% and the outlined one is at 99%, so that may be the case. Do you guys know for sure? Thanks once again!

Dennis

[migman_2001]

I just checked mine, and they are showing 100% and the batter icon is solid black with solid black lightning bolt through it.  The lightning bolt indicates its charging.