Solar panel not charging

@davey_d​ Thanks, Davey! I updated just now, but still not getting a clear indication (or charging icon within the battery icon) to tell me that the solar panel is working and charging the battery.

However, yesterday when I posted this I’m pretty sure the battery was at 95% and an hour later I saw the batter was at 97%. So I think it is working, but I don’t know definitively, which is a bummer.

Hm, yes. You should be seeing the charging icon when the unit is actively charging - could it be possible that it just wasn't at the time that you checked? But at least you're able to check that the charge is going up.

Hi Davey, on Friday I moved my solar panel to a sunnier location. Since then it has started to get at least six hours of sun. However there is no charging icon appearing in the camera settings in the app or on the website. And it does not appear to be charging from what I can tell, or it is just losing its charge at a much slower rate but not charging back up. It leads me to believe that either the solar panel is faulty or the charging port on the camera is faulty. It would be saddening that the solar panel is faulty as this is solar panel number two and I was having the same issue with the first one. What do you think?

@3373inLine​ I know this is off topic of the post here but how did you install that on your vinyl siding? I'm concerned the the supplied screws/anchor with the unit won't support the weight. Thanks in advance!

@davey_d Just an update: I am now seeing the charging icon finally. I recharged the battery to 100% and now it’s happening. Not sure why it wasn’t happening before. But good news!

@mikemalloy0​ I found, if helpful, that I had to make sure the battery was 100% when plugging in. Once I did that it charged normally and keeps up. 

honestly I doubted that part at first, but now it works.

Hi @foremanjf​, 

Your Solar Panels seem to be mounted in a nice, sunny spot - they should certainly be charging your Outdoor Cameras.

Have you tried doing a firmware reset on your cameras? This can be done by pressing and holding the pairing button on the back of your cameras for 16 seconds. Once you release, they should each reboot into setup mode, and you can set them up again in the SimpliSafe app.

If you have already tried a firmware reset, I would secure the connection between your Solar Panels and Outdoor Cameras by unplugging and reinserting the cable connected to your Outdoor Cameras.

@emily_s​ - I assure you all 4x solar panels have a.) proper micro USB connections made already double checked reading on advice above.  and b.) since the 3rd party solar panels were able to show charge lightning-icon... without a firmware reset... and since all 6x of my outdoor cams are running well on the Omada mesh network... I didn't see the reason to do be up on ladder firmware resetting all of these??  

I mean if the camera can detect the voltage of the 3rd party solar panels, without any firmware resets... Surely your own brand solar panel should do the same without issue?  I'd rather not waste an hour (back on the ladder) going doing that...

I mean the solar module IV detection is electronic, why would a firmware reset gate help (especially in light of the fact it auto-detected IV of 3rd party solar module just the week before).? Granted those showed a charging icon, but didn't seem to actually improve battery levels.

I love the simlisafe overall alarm system way more than Ring... but their solar panels work without issue and charge sufficiently.

I guess I can return all $500 of the 6x simplisafe solar panels to Amazon (I did like the aesthetics and type of mounting hardware more) but c'mon guys it's not me leaving all 4x loose micro USB connections (I get that it's the first troubleshooting tree they give you).

I really would rather keep the simplisafe panels for noted aesthetic/mount reasons, but if I go firmware reset all of these cameras... mount the last 2x solar panels for all 6x cams... and it still doesn't detect, you'll owe me first batch of the new improved (large enough, to push enough voltage, current) panels for so much ladder time (and it better use the SAME circle mount, so I'm not drilling more holes into the new home).  

The only saving grace is the hole-spacing of the Simplisafe circle 2-hole mount, is the same distance as the 3-hole mounts used on the Aluminum ball joint mounts via 3rd party solar panels... So I at least I'm not drilling extra useless holes into my new house facia.

Alright... I'll bite, I'll try the firmware reset - but you're talking to a long time solar industry professional (experienced PV module product manager/designer).  See note above, y'all owe me legit higher wattage brand name panels, that friggin autodetect IV, if I'm upon the ladder again these 6x still don't detect with charging icon after firmware resets too.  I mean a new improved model, not the same stuff.

@emily_s​ Why are you saying to unplug and reinsert “both ends” of the cable? @davey_d wrote earlier in the thread that the cable doesn’t detach at the panel end.

Also, will Simplisafe correct the support page that has the same misinformation ?

Hi @ewilen​, 

Thank you for calling my error out! I was looking at conflicting resources when writing my response. Davey is correct, the cable that is connected to the Solar Panel cannot be unplugged. We're working on getting the page in our Help Center that says it can be unplugged corrected.