Does anyone know a definitive answer to which power source should be selected if we only want to use a camera’s built in solar panel? (Meaning not having to recharge the battery and not using an external solar panel)
I’ve seen other posts in the community but none seem to have a concrete answer to multiple users’ question/issue regarding which “Power Source” to choose for cameras with built in solar panels. The dropdown list offers only “Battery” or “External Solar Panel.” There is no option for “Built-in Solar Panel.”
The point in buying a camera with a built in solar panel is to use the built in solar panel, not to have to recharge the battery and not to use a separate external solar panel.
I have a SoloCam S220, installed July 27, 2025. When I set it up, the Power Source was defaulted to Battery. I changed it to “External Solar Panel” as this was the closest thing to telling it to use solar instead of battery. Over the past month, the camera has worked fine and the Battery Percentage Trend shows it going up and down, ranging from 94% to 100%. This was with power source set to “external solar panel” but the only solar panel being used is the one built into the camera. So this would lead us to believe the camera was using the built in solar panel to recharge the battery - while the power source was set to “External Solar Panel” despite not being connected to an external solar panel.
As of August 24, I start getting notifications about low battery. I check the app and see it’s at 9%. It had drastically dropped 85% in one day. The camera gets plenty of sunlight and is not dirty.
I messaged customer support, specifically asking what is the correct option to choose under power source if I want to use the built in solar panel? I’m not sure if it’s AI that’s responding but I was told “Ensure the correct setting is selected for your setup.” Ok great but what is the correct setting?? My question was not actually answered. They told me to reset the camera, make sure it has adequate sunlight, firmware updated etc. Did not answer the question. They then asked my order number and the SKU number for the camera. I provided these but again, these do not answer the question.
Various posts on the community say to choose battery and others say choose external solar panel. Customer service is not helping with a very basic question.
