Arlo Ultra Solar Panel Review

[ItsPlayTime]

Quick review of the Arlo Ultra Solar Panel accessory.
I was provided one of these devices for free by Arlo for testing & reviewing purposes.

Short version: It works great!!
I ordered 2 more from Amazon yesterday.

Slightly more detailed version:
Initially, there were issues with the device's functionality. I'm no electrical engineer but if I had to guess I would guess that the camera had difficulties dealing with the sun rising & setting and the fluctuation of power which naturally occurred during that process. I would have to disconnect, battery pull & reinsert, reconnect the charger way too much. Clouds passing by could also trigger the error. The good news is that Arlo has engineers & they found and solved that bug many weeks ago.

Since that was solved, I have had no problems which I can attribute to the solar panel itself and in fact I've only touched that camera once. It has been a set it & forget it device. I did use some electrical insulating compound (grease) in the connection.

As it is a solar panel, your location can and will effect how much power & therefore how useful this device is for you. I am located in southern Florida & one thing we've got plenty of is sunlight.

The camera that it is connected to oversees an extremely high traffic intersection located behind my property. I'm talking around 700-900+ triggered 4k recordings just during daylight hours. At the end of daylight, the cameras battery would usually be around 70-90 percent. In contrast, after sunset the battery would become depleted in 2 hours or less if I didn't turn off the camera. The point is that the charger works exceptionally well in direct sunlight.

On cloudy/overcast days the charger is obviously less effective. To my surprise the charger did provide a trickle charge on days where the sun was not actually visible through the clouds.

I intend to connect that particular camera to the Arlo Ultra outdoor power cord the moment I can get my hands on one. Doing so will enable me to either create a zone to ignore that intersection or switch the camera to a CVR plan.

For normal traffic areas, I consider the Arlo Ultra Solar Panel a solid option for a long-term power solution.

I purchased 2 of the Solar Panels from Amazon yesterday.

I'll happily answer any questions you may have.

[JamesC]

ItsPlayTime,

Thanks for the feedback!.

JamesC

[ItsPlayTime]

You're welcome. Any time.
Also, I just got the 2 I ordered from Amazon so I'll be setting those up this week. I'm really looking forward to the outdoor cable(s) but they keep backing up the release date...

[StephenB]

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@ItsPlayTime wrote:

For normal traffic areas, I consider the Arlo Ultra Solar Panel a solid option for a long-term power solution.

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I agree.  I've been using one for a while now with good results.  The camera battery hasn't dropped below 90%, and generally is 98-100%.  

[n11]

Thanks for your review. Do you know if there is any easy way to pair the Ultra solar panel with a gutter mount. From the pictures I've seen there only seems to be a mount that you would screw into wood.

[ItsPlayTime]

I'm not really sure about that but it'll fit mounts made for the Arlo pro, pro2, or ultra. Some of my Solar Panels are on the old larger mount you mention (that it comes with) and some are on the new shorter version of the mount that came with the Ultra cameras. It comes down to whether or not the mount you use will allow you enough of an angle on the panel to face the sun in your location.

It should screw onto this but I'm not sure about getting the angle to face the sun

https://www.amazon.com/Wasserstein-Weatherproof-Gutter-Mount-compatible/dp/B07FMPHJWM/ref=mp_s_a_1_1...

[n11]

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@ItsPlayTime wrote:
I'm not really sure about that but it'll fit mounts made for the Arlo pro, pro2, or ultra. Some of my Solar Panels are on the old larger mount you mention (that it comes with) and some are on the new shorter version of the mount that came with the Ultra cameras. It comes down to whether or not the mount you use will allow you enough of an angle on the panel to face the sun in your location.

It should screw onto this but I'm not sure about getting the angle to face the sun

https://www.amazon.com/Wasserstein-Weatherproof-Gutter-Mount-compatible/dp/B07FMPHJWM/ref=mp_s_a_1_1...

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That's exactly what I was hoping to hear. None of the pictures of the Ultra solar panel show how it would attach to the mount that comes with the Ultra camera (but logically I figured it would). Thanks for your response.

[jguerdat]

Since the solar panels use a threaded mount, you can screw them into anything. I've got various mounts attached to wood, vinyl siding and gutters. For a gutter, I can only use 2 screws but that has worked very well. I suppose if you're clever and maybe use a long screw, you could get the third one installed, too, possibly using a block spacer to make it solid.