Thanks Jeff. Could I use these wires?
What do you mean by bending them over double or triple on the solar panel connector side?
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They look like stranded wire - it will work, but solid wire will be better. If you buy that resistor pack then you can cut the wires from some of your spare (!) resistors and that should work very well.
The wire that fits best into the breadboard is probably too thin to fit tightly into the solar panel connector. But if you bend it back on itself two or maybe three times it will be thick enough to squeeze tightly in. This will only work for solid wire, however. Another option is to use the alligator clips to connect from the solar panel wires to short lengths of wire sticking out of the breadboard, as in the image. This would also give you more options about how you arrange things within the house.
(I notice that in the image the resistor lead is touching the negative side of the LED - not good. I could have avoided this happening by shortening the resistor leads so that it sits just above the breadboard and can’t tilt and touch anything).
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Thanks Jeff. I’m going to put through my order now.
Ok, I’m going to do this option. Does that I’ll have to cut the white connector off the solar panel?
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Yes. That will be necessary to ensure that they will not touch each other. It would be worthwhile to wrap the connections in tape or secure them in some way so they don’t move around.
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Ok I will. Thank you very much again for your help, Jeff. We are looking forward to receiving our order and starting on the project!
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Hi Jeff,
I received the items in the post and got it all working as per your diagram! My question is when I use the 510 ohm resistor, the light is not very bright. If I wanted it brighter, do I use the 330ohm resistor? Also if I wanted to put on another light bulb on the breadboard, where do I place it? Thank you!
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Well done!
I have attached an image. The setup is referred to as parallel - the resistor/LED combinations are in parallel with each other, with respect to the positive and negative leads.
The next value below 510 is 470, so I would try that first. Remember that the brightness depends on the illumination, so consider what environment it will be in when you show it off. But from the sound of it you will end up at 330, which is close to the figure I calculated from the specs for the panel. The second LED will increase the drain on the panel, so the first one may be a little dimmer when the add the second. If you have two LEDs they do not have to have the same value resistor - you can choose the best one for the effect you want.
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Hi Jeff,
Thank you very much for the diagram and your advice! I’ll give it a go with my son tomorrow 
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