Nest Camera Battery Solar Issue

[Mike11953]

I recently purchased and installed a nest outdoor camera battery. I purchased a solar panel on Amazon that claimed it was made for this camera was pre-wired, and had the correct connector.
I installed a solar panel, ran the wire to the camera and the instructions stated it would not begin to trickle charge until the battery was below 75%

What I didn’t realize that was that it was supposed to then say solar on the Google home app for this camera, which it never did

The battery is now down to 68%. I’ve disconnected and reconnected. The solar panel connected to the camera numerous times. Check to make sure it was dry and not dirty refresh the Google Home app all the things that I found other people stated was a problem and still cannot get the solar panel to register on the Google Home app.

Was I supposed to factory reset when I hooked up the solar panel I wrote to the manufacturer and they have not provided any actual instructions as to how to fix this issue

I also noticed that I now only have a percentage of battery life left prior to this when I clicked on that circle. I also received the number of days and a percentage.

Any help in solving this would be appreciated

[MplsCustomer]

@Mike11953 

Is your power cable plugged in tightly to the bottom of the camera with the cable feeding towards the FRONT of the camera?

[Mike11953]

Yes, it is snuggly plugged into where it supposed to be in the right configuration. The panel is getting plenty of sunlight. I unplugged it and plugged it back in a few times and nothing seems to be working. I just don’t understand why it’s not reading the solar panel.

[MplsCustomer · Accepted solution]

@Mike11953 

We've had a battery camera, plugged in with the optional power cable, for 2 years. The only other thought I can add is that some customers who added a power cable sometime AFTER installing their battery camera have reported in this forum that they had to remove their camera, do a factory reset, and reinstall, because the camera has to be set to being plugged in at the time of the install or it doesn't work as being plugged in.

Ours has been plugged in from the start, and always shows as "Plugged in" with an infinity symbol.

[Mike11953]

Thanks so much ,I’ll give that a try tomorrow and report back

[Lance_L]

Hello everyone,

@Mike11953, thanks for reaching out to the Community. I wanted to follow up and check if you still need any help. Have you had any chance to try the suggested steps above? If yes, how was it?

If you haven’t done so already, here’s how to restart or factory reset your Nest camera or doorbell.

Keep me posted.

I appreciate the help, MplsCustomer.

Best,

Lance

[Mike11953]

Thanks very much. Anyone that uses a solar panel for the nest camera needs to do a factory reset and then install with the solar panel plugged in for it to work. 

thanks for the advice

[Lance_L]

Hey Mike11953,

It was my pleasure. Also, you can visit the Nest Help Center to explore the features and settings of the Nest cameras and doorbells.

Feel free to reach out if you have any questions.

Regards,

Lance