I've got a shaded area leading up to my front door that I want to illuminate with solar lights, but alas, it's so shaded I can't seem to generate enough juice to charge the batteries. I know that companies sell lights with a remote solar panel, but it's a bit too pricey for me. I was thinking of building my own remote panel in the following way:
- Buy a couple throwaway lights and remove their solar panels.
- Connect the positives together and the negatives together and attach them to a piece of plastic to make my panel. Place the DIY solar panel in a non-shaded area.
- Place additional lights where I want them in the walkway.
- Run wire from the remote solar panel array to the first battery terminals of the lights in the walkway.
- Run wire from the first light battery terminal to the second, and continue until all panels are wired.
Am I missing anything? Is there a piece of equipment I'm overlooking?
What happens when a charge maxes out? Suppose battery #1 in the series maxes, is the energy then passed to battery #2? What happens when they all max out?
What sort of wire do I buy?
I'm a noob when it comes to electronics.