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ewilen's profile

Friday, March 3rd, 2023 12:05 AM

Mounting a solar panel—ideas?

I bought a solar panel for the outdoor camera but I’m finding it difficult to mount. While the camera can easily hang from an eave, even without the optional mounting accessory, the panel arm doesn't have enough travel to allow this (and be pointed at the sun).

Any ideas/solutions? I have stucco exterior walls that I don't want to drill into. I have seem some gutter mounts for Ring panels; something similar for Simplisafe would be nice.

764 Messages

2 years ago

It might now look great, but I mounted a board from the soffit and mounted 2 solar panels to the board.  I just used a couple of angle brackets to connect to the soffit.

3 Messages

@general_kaos​ Hi,  I'm new inside the community.  I'm having issues with not getting the sun to hit the entire panel because I guess on where I thought was the best option.  So the solar panel is not charging my outdoor camera.  SimpliSafe doesn't provide much help or instructions for those who have eaves/soffits where the solar panel can stick out far enough to capture the sun on the entire panel.  I'm thinking I'll need someone to help me attach a board like you did, but I'm trying to visualize what that looks like?  Are you able to attach a picture of what you did as a solution to this issue?  Thanks much!

9 Messages

1 year ago

I agree - the mounting system that Simplisafe uses for the solar panel is ABSOLUTE CRAP.  I actually am recommending AGAINST anyone buying the Simplisafe branded panel until they fix this.  There are tons of compatible panels available online that have a mount that WORKS.  Applying the crappy plastic disc to a brick wall essentially ensures that you CANNOT attach the panel.  

1 Message

1 year ago

I found that the plastic disk that attaches to the house / other structure must be perfectly flat to get it to lock in to the solar panel.  Just putting this out in case you are having trouble getting it to lock in place.

9 Messages

Thanks for the comment - yes, that is exactly the problem!  Getting the disk to lay flat against a brick surface is impossible.  In hindsight, I could have mounted a plate (wood or whatever) and put the mounting disc on *that*, but ultimately using a different mounting system was easier.

1 Message

10 months ago

Odd that SimpliSafe has no comment.

we’ve been SS subscribers for some time and have many of their items.

Something as simple as optional mounting to assist in achieving better access to solar for the panels should be easily accomplished.

Ironically I’ve been receiving messages from the home insurer that has a deal with a competitor’s security system which may offer monitoring for substantially less than what we’re paying for SS.

research and consider options.

We’re happy with SS service and customer support.

Options for mounting some items would be great.

2 Messages

10 months ago

You are correct, SimpliSafe simply told me they could not help me. They are totally useless and have poor customer relations. I've been trying to find a way to mount the solar panel for some time. I did get the camera's mounted by using gutter mounts I found on Amazon

Community Admin

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3.4K Messages

@MBrew610​ I am very sorry to hear about that experience, we absolutely want to help you set up your Solar Panel.

Where are you trying to install it? The Solar Panel comes with a 13-foot power cord so it doesn't need to be installed right next to the camera itself. This is helpful in case there's a better area around the camera that gets more sun, or an easier place to install it.

If there's a brick, stone, or stucco surface where you can install the Solar Panel, you can use a 1/4" masonry drill bit to drill two holes into the surface and then use the anchors and included screws to attach the Solar Panel to the wall.

If there's a wood surface you'd like to install the Solar Panel on, you can screw the self-tapping screws directly into the wall with a handheld screwdriver - no drill required. 

Unfortunately we do not sell any gutter mounts for the Solar Panel itself, but I have seen some available on online retailers like Amazon.

3 Messages

@MBrew610​ Hi, I was looking at gutter mounts for my situation where I'm not getting enough full sun on my solar panel as it's located on the northside corner of my house.  Whenever I talk with a Simplisafe tech support person, they give zero help on what is an alternate to mounting the panel for my application.  I wish the arm of the solar panel was longer as that would help me angle it to capture more sun, but it's not.  The location of where my camera is just around the corner on the northwest side where there's a gutter.  I would appreciate knowing which gutter mount you purchased as there's so many to choose from.  When reading some of the descriptions of many different gutter mounts on amazon they reference many of the various outdoor & solar panels like Ring, Arlo, Eufy, Wyze & more, but strangely never reference Simplisafe solar panels or outdoor cameras.  Which gutter mount did you get that works with the Simplisafe solar panel on your gutter?  Thanks in advance for any info you can share.

1 Message

@emily_s​ what a crap response for SS; someone in the organazation needs to step up and figure this out instead of sending to competitor or the hardware store. Seems Ring has figured this out?????? maybe they are better option?? 

764 Messages

8 months ago

  Hopefully....

764 Messages

8 months ago

2nd picture

3 Messages

8 months ago

Thank you so much for providing a couple pictures of how you successfully mounted your solar panels!  

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