This panel seems well made, especially for the price. The plastic feels sturdy. The kit didn't come with any instructions, but it was easy enough to figure out. The listing says the panel is "waterproof" but in one place it claims a rating of IP65 which means "water resistant." In another place it says the rating is IP66. In any case, you shouldn't submerse the panel, but if you install it in the normal way I think it would stand up to the weather. If you really want to be sure, you could apply a small amount of bathtub caulk in a couple of places, such as the spot where the cable goes into the back of the unit. I live in a place where it gets very cold and I wonder about the range of operating temperatures, but if I was using this to power a security camera then I would worry about the camera before the solar panel.The most interesting part for me is that this panel will power more than just security cameras. It should run anything that charges from a micro-USB cable. The first thing I did with it was charge the backup battery for my phone, which worked very well. If you live in an area where storms sometimes knock out the power for a long time, you could use a panel like this to charge your phone or a flashlight. If you like to do projects, you could attach a panel like this to your mailbox to power lights that illuminate your house number at night.