I was browsing the settings of my outdoor cams and noticed a new “Accessories” selection that lists the new solar panel option. Selecting it and toggling it on changes the solar panel status to “Installed”.
Does this setting change camera performance or how the battery usage is monitored or is it strictly to give additional info to product support when logs are submitted?
I enabled this function on my four WCO and haven’t noticed anything different.
Thanks!
[Mod Note]:Your topic was merged to the Beta Category for better visibility.
I am told the Outdoor Camera wakes up every time it detects a USB connection, to restore connection with the base station. The new Solar Panel accessory setting in the app gives the option to turn this off, to keep the camera from waking up every time a solar panel applies voltage. At the end of the day the solar panel will actually apply voltage several times as the sun gets weaker.
I have been using solar panels for nearly six months before Wyze released their own panels and created the solar panel setting in the app. That might explain why my two cams that are the farthest from their bases seem to use more battery than the others and need to be taken down and recharged from time to time despite getting excellent solar exposure. The other two cams are close to their bases and never need to be taken down.
I look forward to seeing how the two long distance cams respond to this setting being enabled. Although winter is closing in and they will get less direct sunlight so I might not notice a difference until the spring/summer months.
Yes, it will be interesting to see if things improve for you. I wonder if there is any variation of transmit power by the firmware when bases are more remote. Also, do near & far see roughly the same number of events?
I assume all cam panels have a similar view of the sun with no trees and a good perpendicular angle to the noonday sun?
Maybe the transmit power doesn’t vary but the cam takes longer searching for signal since it’s farther away and uses more power. They are also slower to connect when trying to live stream.
One of my far cameras sees a lot of events, maybe 8 to 10 per day, and the other sees 1 per day if that. The high traffic one blows through the battery pretty quick. The other far one still uses more than the others that are closer to their bases with the number of daily events being the same.
My house and polebarn are in the middle of an open field so all 4 solar panels get good direct exposure. Over the summer all 4 cams maintained 100% battery. As soon as fall hit, that’s when the long distance cams started falling behind. The close cams are still hanging at 100%.