How Long is the Cable on the Ring Solar Panel?

Last Updated on July 11th, 2023

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When you are planning to connect a solar panel to your Ring camera, it is important to understand how long the cord is. This determines the freedom you have in where your panel can go.

Unfortunately, Ring doesn’t make it the easiest to find the length, which means you are often left guessing until the package arrives.

Thankfully, this article has the answer for you to make your planning much easier.

Continue reading to learn more about the length of a standard cable and options for other sizes and extensions.

What is the Standard Size?

The standard size of the cord for the Ring solar panel is 13 feet. This is generally enough for most people to place the solar panel somewhere that it can get a lot of sun.

Generally, the Ring camera will need the solar panel to get three to four hours of direct sunlight a day to stay fully powered. It may need more or less, depending on how much it goes off on average.

Different-sized solar panels from Ring can change the charging time, such as 2.4 W or 5 W.

If you are unable to have your solar panel in the light long enough with only a 13-foot extension cable, there are a couple of options.

First, you could use battery power with just the solar panel for a supplement, or you can get an extension cord.

Does Ring Make an Extension Cord for the Solar Panel?

Ring does offer an extension cord. However, at the moment, the only size they have is a 10-foot option in either white or black. In addition to the extension cord, you get a user guide and cable clips.

The cable clips are to help you hand the cord out of the way so it isn’t just dangling somewhere or trailing the ground. This can allow you to make your cable situation look a little nicer or even hide the cables behind some other decoration near your camera.

There is only one size option and two color options, so there isn’t a lot of choice or customizability. While 23 feet is enough for most people, it might end up being a little too long or a little too short for others, unfortunately.

Which Sizes Are There?

Unfortunately, there aren’t any sizes to choose from. You can’t get anything shorter than 13 feet. If you need something longer, you can buy extensions, but shortening the cable would have to be done manually or by buying an off-brand cable.

You don’t want to have too many extensions, or you risk losing a lot of power in the transfer, so one or two extension cords are likely the max that is recommended. Unfortunately, that means that your choices are limited to 13, 23, or 33 feet at most.

They offer longer power adaptors, but these don’t connect to the solar panel. Instead, they are designed to allow you to plug cameras or flood lights into the inside of your home instead of using batteries or solar panels.

How Can You Choose the Right One?

The cord you choose is dependent on the type of solar panel you have. For example, if you have a solar panel with a barrel cord, you want to make sure you buy the adapter with the barrel cord. This is the most important decision.

If you have a solar panel set with a USB-C, you want to make sure you buy the cord designed to work with the USB-C. Both only come with a 10-foot extension option, so it doesn’t matter which one you get. You get the same length.

If you care about aesthetics, you can also be sure to get the color that matches the cords you already have in place, such as matching black with black or white with white.

Common Mistakes You Need to Avoid

There are three major mistakes that most people tend to make. The first is buying something that isn’t an adaptor.

Ring makes power adaptors that are designed for indoor/outdoor use. Although they are called adaptors and are used to power the system, they aren’t extension cords or longer versions of the cords.

Instead, they are designed to allow you to run your cord inside to power it from an outlet in your home. Unfortunately, they can’t be used to run solar on your camera.

The second mistake is the colors. There are two color options, which are black and white. Most people tend to want to get a cord that already matches their system but may not pay attention to the fact that there are two options.

While this isn’t a super serious mistake, having a cord that changes colors about halfway through can be frustrating.

The third and most serious mistake is buying the wrong extension cord. There are two options, which are a USB-C extension cord and a barrel plug extension cord.

Unfortunately, your solar panel came with one or the other, and if you buy the wrong cord, you won’t be able to use it.

Thankfully, Ring understands that people make mistakes, and instead of trying to fight with customer service, you can just buy a USB-C-to-barrel adapter or a barrel-to-USB-C adapter. However, this can be an added expense and a bit annoying if you get it wrong.

Final Thoughts on How Long Is the Cable on the Ring Solar Panel

Ring doesn’t offer a lot of options for their wiring, unfortunately. It appears they are extending their stock a little and understand that some people need more cords than others, but they don’t offer much range when it comes to their cords or extension cords.

This can be pretty frustrating for some who need a short or long cord. One can only hope that Ring adds a couple more options in the future for those that may have an unusual situation.