A:AnswerThe Bird Buddy feeder sold by Best Buy includes the solar panel roof.
I've exprienced on a sunny day, the battery charge never drops below 90 percent, even rising higher on a good day. This makes me think that, seriously, if you pick a sunny location it would be MONTHS before it needed a charge, and maybe not even then.
If does need charging, the camera, which is held in the feeder by a strong magnet, just pops right out and is charged easily with a USB-C cord.
A:AnswerThere is a feature which will notify you when birds are at the feeder, send you pics and a video and identify the breed. You will need to turn on "notifications" in the app on your smart phone but it works great!
A:AnswerMine also did not flash lights when plugged in, but I plugged it in for a few hours and then when you connect to the app it will tell you the battery charge.