When I first bought this, I thought it might take awhile to charge -even with solar- but after getting the skimmer paired in the app, I put it right in the pool, and done! It immediately went right to work cleaning up the surface area. When everything was clear, the remote control on the app made it easy to retrieve, and the basket took just a few minutes to clean out. The solar charging is a game changer and allows you to quickly cleanup the surface without having to wait for a charge.