Troubleshooting Unexpected Battery Drain in Ring Solar Smart Lights

Are the batteries for your Ring Smart Lighting draining unexpectedly? Check out these tips.

Ring Smart Solar Lights losing power faster than expected?

• If it's winter and you're in an area that gets less than the recommended eight hours of sunlight per day, you may need to move your unit or the solar panel to catch as much light as possible when the sun is in the sky. 
• If you have a Solar Floodlight, you can purchase another Ring Battery Pack on the Ring website to upgrade your battery capacity. Adding another battery might make it easier to make it through the winter.
• While you cannot add another battery for the Solar Steplight or Solar Pathlight, you can always take those devices inside for a quick charge using the micro-USB cable whenever needed. 

Tap for more information on placing your lights to maximize the amount of energy your Solar Smart Light receives from the sun.

Light activating to often or too little?

• If your light is activating more often than necessary, you can always reduce your motion sensitivity in the Ring app.
• Tip

  : if your lights are in a group and you find too many are turning on when you don’t need them to, you can disable motion sensors on those lights and use only certain lights and trigger point sensors. This will help save your battery life and reduce unnecessary notifications. 

Things to try

Light sensor threshold adjustment

All Smart Solar Lights have a light sensor inside which prevents your lights from turning on during daylight hours. To keep your light sensor activated and lights off during the day, try to keep your setting between one and three. If it is any higher, your lights may be detecting motion and activating when unnecessary. 

Set or adjust schedules

All Solar Smart Lights allow you to schedule your lights to turn on from dusk to dawn at a preset low lumen level. As long as your device is getting adequate sunlight, this feature isn’t a significant drain on your battery. However, if it’s winter and you are not receiving sufficient sunlight to charge your light, we recommend you disable or shorten your schedule. You can shorten your schedule by going into your device light schedules in the Ring app and adjusting its time frame. For example, instead of having your light on fully from dusk to dawn you can schedule your light on for evening (7pm to 11pm) and early morning (5am to 7am). This saves you six hours of unnecessary battery drain. 

Tap for more information on setting light schedules.

Adjust brightness

Try lowering your brightness during the winter to help save battery life. 

Check linked devices

If you linked your Solar Smart Lights with any of your other Ring devices, make sure that link is not causing your lights to activate too much. This can significantly drain your battery.

Tap for general information on Ring Smart Lighting.