Ring Solar Project: $34 DIY Solar; Better than Ring's $100 Super Solar Panel?

[@TechWinnerCC]

UPDATE 20 MONTHS LATER kzbin.info/www/bejne/jma2nqSEabWDbdk

[@TechWinnerCC]

UPDATE AGAIN: 1 year later, and this solar panel is still going strong. No regrets!

[@puppypierslover9095]

It will work on doorsbell 4?

[@summerlee1751]

Hi,Thanks so much for your feedback. I am the seller of this solar panel from Soshine company, May I know your email?we have some new solar panels,we hope you can help to use them and feedback, thanks!

[@hogrydr100]

i got tired of changing the batteries in my ring cams. i found this video and immediately purchased the panels and cords. once arrived, i bot an aluminum strip from lowes to mount the panels. 40 mins later all my cams are hooked up to solar and even in the freezing cold are working perfectly and constantly showing full charge! thank you soooo much for the video

[@TechWinnerCC]

Awesome!!! Thank you for commenting!

[@alr5373]

Dude, you are rad. I just ordered a Ring Super Solar Panel for under $20 because of you. BTW the adapter you are looking for is a DC 5V 3.5mm x 1.35mm to USB. Amzn sells all lengths, colors, ect. I only needed a 1foot adapter that costs $5. Thanks again for making/posting this vid to save us all $$$.

[@belindagarcia6704]

Thank you for your comment and the info on the adapter cord. I got 8 of them so that helped out. ✅

[@belindagarcia6704]

TECH WINNER - I appreciate how direct you are and getting great points about each product. I ordered 8 of panels. Thank you for all your work on what I needed. ✅

[@TechWinnerCC]

You’re very welcome! I did this project almost 15 months ago and my panel is still going strong. Thanks for watching and commenting!

[@belindagarcia6704]

@@TechWinnerCC And thanks for the update on how they are doing! Now, I’m super excited. 😃

[@belindagarcia6704]

@@TechWinnerCC - I finally installed the solar panels today and they already are working. I just want to thank you again for the information you provided. ✅

[@mistervaso]

Just bought it and installed it today! It’s raining down here in south Florida but I will give an update

[@mistervaso]

3 days! And it’s at 100%!! Thank you!!

[@StudioComposer]

Just wanted to say that I'm adding two Ring Spotlight Plus cams to my allotment, but due to shaded spots (and concealed security) am powering them from a sub-regulated 5.25V DC feed from my 12V solar-powered shed. I was curious to know charging performance against various DC voltages. Ring don't publish such specs applicable to the camera. I found however that 5V was not the optimum charging voltage, coming out at around 80% of the *camera-regulated* 1A charge at 5.25V. No surprises there as the USB 5V (nominal) target voltage spec is 4.75 to 5.25V. Furthermore, the 4W spec of Ring's "Super" solar panel is therefore only just good enough - on a bright day, so a good shout for the cheaper superior panel. Nice find !

[@dubrpanda1636]

Thank-you for this... was about to spend 100+ on 2 ring solars at 2w a piece

[@johnszatkowski6898]

Thanks for the info. I did not realize Ring cameras will NOT charge below freezing! The same must hold true for the doorbell cams as well. The high temps. by me for the day have only been 27F at best and I noticed my battery is NOT charging even when sunny and it does not even say a solar panel is connected now (which of course I know one is). So, the solar panel option will not prevent me from having to swap out batteries. That is kinda of a bummer.😞😞 It was charging 2weeks ago but the temps we above 32F. Not a total "deal-breaker" as the battery can be swapped out rather quickly on my porch but I was trying to avoid this.

[@TechWinnerCC]

I hear you, John. It’s a pain for sure. Thanks for commenting, it’s always great to hear from you!

[@StudioComposer]

Yes, an unfortunate limitation of Lithium-Iron technology. A shame that no-one thought to add internal heating resistor, leveraging solar panel power to warm the battery instead, until such time that charging could recommence on colder days... Or perhaps they did, but wanted to shave a meagre few cents from manufacturing costs.

[@GruntSpc]

Thanks!! Going to order mine today! 👍🏻

[@ronniemullis8717]

Something I don’t understand, my solar panel puts out 5.6v in bright sun. The ring doorbell says 8-24v where it’s connected, is this panel just slightly helping the charge ?

[@robertduncan2742]

Do you have item numbers please, also I'm going to watch your new video. My rings are bad even using the first 2 solar.

[@sunshinegypsea]

Thank you for this video!!

[@TechWinnerCC]

You are very welcome!

[@terrypiper71]

Techwinner, Can you get a bad solar panel right out of the box? I bought one from Ring for over my garage door and after setting it all up when I check my health in the app it says it’s not connected. The ring help people couldn’t tell me why, I’ve cleaned all the terminals with no results. I’m 75 and tired of getting up on a ladder, just not safe anymore. Any ideas ? Thank you Terry

[@TechWinnerCC]

Sorry to hear that. It’s certainly possible. I would push back on Ring support to sent you a replacement. I’ve had good experience with them replacing defective products. Best of luck, and thank you for watching!

[@terrypiper71]

@@TechWinnerCC thank you for replying, I tried to get a replacement with no results.

[@troyriley220]

i have a solar panel laying around the house that is pMax: 5W Vmp:17v would this work or burn up the camera bc it is too many volts?

[@TechWinnerCC]

Yeah, I would not recommend connecting a 17v panel without some kind of voltage step down/buck converter in between. They’re relatively inexpensive, so you might still be better off going that route. Something to check out for sure. Just a quick Amazon search isn’t finding much in the way of 17v, however. Best of luck.

[@StudioComposer]

You'd almost certainly fry the camera. Input voltage should be regulated to between 5V and 5.25V (ideal). Use an SMPS regulator to avoid lots of wasted heat (about 12W in your case if you were to use a linear regulator).

[@enaveen29]

How to secure the USB connection waterproof since I will have to keep the USB connection outdoor.

[@TechWinnerCC]

Anything you can do to limit water exposure would be good, even if tucking it under an awning or something where rain will have a harder time getting to it. We’re talking very little voltage so I don’t have safety concerns. You might consider wrapping the USB connection in electrical tape to provide more of a seal.

[@Sheenaeb091909]

Or maybe some heat shrink?

[@TechWinnerCC]

@@Sheenaeb091909 that could work. In theory, the orange and white cables inside a USB 2.0 cord are the ones carrying voltage and ground. Sometimes they're red and black.

[@jacksonchambers5034]

I bought some small weatherproof electrical gang boxes from Lowes. The ones I bought are metal and only have two openings that can be closed off. Inserted through the bottom and wrapped with a bit of tape. Edit: they also sell covers for the gang boxes. So they can be closed pretty tight.

[@thomaswillson]

@@jacksonchambers5034 do you have a link to buy that item?

[@swaveyymike]

Would I be able to use this solar cut the end and splice with the flood light ring camera .. i don’t have a good spot for floodlight came where i could hardwire

[@TechWinnerCC]

No, the floodlight cam requires constant AC power. Thanks for commenting!

[@KenVanek-k2c]

Does polarity mater when adapting an after market solar panel? Positive connect to the inner or outer of the barrel plug?

[@ronniemullis8717]

Ring says it doesn’t matter. The screws are not marked +-.

[@McFaddis]

I wonder how long a ring solar panel would last. They seem overpriced like most ring products. Reminds me of Apple products

[@Sheenaeb091909]

So what would you suggest to convert the USB port on the panel over to so it will be compatible to the ring doorbell? They have the two power screws on the back.

[@TechWinnerCC]

I would recommend searching for something using the term, “usb to positive and negative wire”.

[@tanktexas]

I have a wired floodlight ring cam. Do you know if it's possible to use a solar panel for that

[@TechWinnerCC]

I also have a wired floodlight cam. It will not work with a solar panel. It will either need to be wired directly to an electrical box or it can be used with a plug in kit.

[@notreallyasloth]

Great video thank you sm!

[@freeman8446]

Can i use it with any usb c cord?

[@TechWinnerCC]

With this particular model any USB A to C cord would work.

[@MesoTroniK]

Would this work well to charge multiple cameras simultaneously?

[@TechWinnerCC]

Theoretically, very possible. You’d need a USB power splitter to make that happen, but I don’t see any reason why it wouldn’t work.

[@StudioComposer]

You'd need a bigger panel, otherwise a 6W panel to charge two cams simultaneously would be less than two 4W Ring panels that we already know aren't very good. It would work if both cameras attempted to charge at different times, othewise unpredictable and erratic with two loads on a single 6W panel.

[@TechWinnerCC]

It’s a good thing these Soshine panels are so cheap 🙌