Lately my Solar Panel has trouble charging

[96708]

I have and Arlo Pro with the Arlo Solar Panel that worked fine but lately has trouble charging.

It was charged to 100% prior to proper connection of the solar panel. Everything worked fine for about one month plus. The cam is pointed to a high traffic area and can drain from 100% to 50% in one day.  Nevertheless, the solar panel would easily recharge the battery to almost 100%  after I turned the camera off and significantly if I left the camera on when there is no traffic.

The panel was installed facing West and where I live most of the charging took place in the afternoon. But it was fine.

Lately I notice it no longer charges during the afternoon and I need to turn the cam on and off to kind of jumpstart the charging. Also it seems to change only in the late afternoon rather than all afternoon. This could be a coincidence as I ony have time to jumpstart the charging in the late afternoon.

Has anyone else experiences this? I don’t think it’s a connection issue as it does charge. Its not August, the panel was installed in mid to late June. I am sure its getting sunlight but is seasonality and location that big of a factor? Defect in the panel. Something wrong with the battery? The solar cable? IT does get pretty hot and one factor might be heat but that should be engineered for. Max temp in my area is about 100F but the average range is 85 to 90F during the summer. IT never rains here.

[JamesC]

96708,

Season and location is a fairly influencing factor when determining how well the solar panel will be able to charge your camera during the day. There is some good information on this here: How do I position the Arlo Solar Panel to get the most sunlight?

Heavy usage of your camera (you mention it being in a high traffic area) can drain the camera battery faster than the solar panel can recharge it. The 2-watt Arlo Solar Panel is designed to provide year-round trickle charging to keep your Arlo Pro or Arlo Go camera battery charged, not to charge your camera battery from low to full.

JamesC