Designed for the SwitchBot Curtains (1st and 2nd Generation) the Switchbot Solar Panel is an innovative way of keeping your curtain motors charged without worrying about plugging them in. In our SwitchBot Solar Panel Review we share our thoughts on this eco-friendly product.
What is the SwitchBot Solar Panel?
As you’d expect, the SwitchBot Solar Panel is…a solar panel! It’s designed to clip onto your SwitchBot curtain accessory and charge it from the sunlight from your window. It connects straight onto the SwitchBot curtain via a pair of clips and the microUSB port but, if your curtain tops are too high to pick up daylight it also has a removable cable and some velcro allowing you to stick the solar panel further down your curtains.
Much like the Switch Bot curtains it comes in a choice of white or black to match and costs just £25 however, this is very much a product of convenience rather than money saving as it’ll probably take you longer than the lifespan of the product to recoup that £25 through electricity saved…the main advantage however is never having to worry about charging your curtain bots.
Setting up the Switch Bot Solar Panel
Setting up the solar panel is easy, you simply attach it to your SwitchBot curtain motor and it starts charging it. If you’re curtains are raised above the top of the window you might want to stick it to your curtains using the built in cable and velcro pads but even with slightly raised curtains we’d recommend trying it straight onto the curtain bot to start with as even though our curtains are raised it still charges.
You can check in the SwitchBot app the battery levels and see a little sunshine next to battery levels to indicate that the solar charging is working.
SwitchBot Solar Panel Review: Day to Day Use
Day-to-day use of the SwitchBot solar panel is easy…so easy we actually forget it’s there, even in a room with blinds closed but curtains open the solar panel easily keeps the Switchbot charged to 80%+ which is ideal. To put this in perspective this is with the curtains being opened in the morning and closed in the evening.
And that’s it, the device is hidden away and, much like the curtain bots you don’t even notice it’s there.
Should you buy a SwitchBot Solar Panel?
In our opinion, at £25 the SwitchBot Solar Panel is an accessory well worth picking up, it takes away the need to ever charge your curtains and is a nice eco-friendly approach to keeping them charged (much like the solar panels that come with the SOMA Tilt)
