Solar Charger for Ring Video Doorbell (2020 release)

I have only had this solar charger for a couple of days but it seems to be doing the job. My home faces the East so I get direct sun for the first half of the day. My ring doorbell was not holding a charge for long. I fully charged the doorbell before putting it on the solar charger and it is still at 97 per cent.There is no over hang on my front and on sunny days the app states it is charging my device. I will update after a few weeks.**Update 6/1/21. I have had the Solar panel attached for a month now and my ring doorbell holds between 85 to 88 percent. I will recharge the doorbell to 100 percent to see how long that holds now that the solar panel is full powered. I am pleased with the results so far.***Update 9/29/2021. This Ring solar panel is worth the money if you get direct sunlight. I have not charged my doorbell since the last update in June. The power had reduced to 89 percent, but checking it today was back to 100 percent with only the solar panel. I am interested in how it will do in the winter with a weaker sun.** Update 12/14/2021- We are in the period of the year where the sun is not quite as strong and as suspected the charger is not functioning as well. My ring doorbell is not holding a charge as long. The solar charger does not say it is charging the doorbell. It is fantastic during the summer month but substandard during the winter.**Update 4/11/2022- It has been 12 months with the solar charger. I can say if conditions are right it is worth getting. The only period of time that it did not perform well was during the winter when the sun was not as strong and the days overcast. Now that the days are longer and the sun is stronger the charger is performing well. This will be my last update and I would recommend this product.

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/B085DVTYHNNew AMZN page: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0B3F9LS2GHere 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.

***UPDATE*** 5/16/21 About Four months later and Solar charger stopped working. Remained consistent around 83%. Than one day I noticed it steadily dropping. Now it doesn’t seem to charge at all although it claims it’s connected to solar charger. Not happy and too late to return. You’ve been warned. I cleaned panels, unplugged and plugged charger back in as instructed in case it was an issue. I’ll update if charging begins working.***UPDATE*** A month later and still working like a charm. I haven’t taken it down since first install. The battery level stays above 83% now with longer daylight. Also just FYI this is made strictly for the BASIC RING, SECOND GENERATION. That’s the newest version of the basic model. I see some reviewers saying “it doesn’t work I have ring 2” It states in the description it’s Only compatible with the model I just mentioned. Again Remember few basic but important tips; 1)first Make sure you have correct model 2) make sure you get majority or at least half day of sunlight 3)start with ring charged at 100% and 4) keep the battery draining settings(snapshot every few minutes etc)at a minimum and I don’t believe you will have a problem with this working. ****************************************************** This charger is a God send and works perfect for me. First off to be clear, I’m just an average consumer. I didn’t receive a free item, I’m not being paid and I’m not affiliated with ring or amazon. I literally haven’t charged it since installing. My conditions just FYI is I live in New York, it’s winter as I write this and my front door ring faces south. For those unsure who are here to read reviews, below are my 3 ground rules.#1 Don’t buy if your front door area doesn’t gets at least a good half day of sun. It can’t work in mostly shaded spots. Otherwise go for solar chargers with a separate roof top panel. #2 before installing you must charge your ring to 100% to give the solar system a chance to maintain battery life. 50-70% battery life doesn’t give you or the device enough time to find what settings works best due to your conditions.#3 Lastly and perhaps most importantly, you have to minimize some of the settings that drain battery life. Such as ones that take pictures every 5/10 minutes. It’s the sun, not a direct current. You can’t have every setting on full blast. The app warns you “this may significantly drain battery life.” If you want full options than get it installed hard wired. My motion detection setting is at 75% which catches just about everything coming by. That’s enough for me.*Bottom Line* When I followed the 3 rules above my ring stays consistently charged between 75-80% You have to experiment and see what works best for you, again depending on your conditions and settings mentioned above. Whats great is I no longer have to take my ring down to charge. So yes for me it does it’s job and does it well. Hopefully it will even be higher once spring/summer comes and the days are longer. So try to remember when reading the negative reviews that there may be variables that we are unaware of. Personally for me with Amazon flexible return policy, I can’t see not giving it a try if you get mostly sun. It beats charging every 3 weeks!