How to Make a Solar Powered Walkway

Step 4 Get to more work!

I marked the spots on my path where I wanted the bricks, and measured the distance from there to the case of the solar light, and added about a foot.  I found out the hard way that I probably should have added more like three feet just to be safe! 

Cut speaker wire to these lengths.  Make sure you label them for easy installation later.  Strip the ends of the wires and solder up one end to each of the bricks.  After these are attached, epoxy or silicone any exposed wire or solder. 

As described in step one, dig the holes in the path, fill the bottom with gravel, and install your blocks.  In addition, you'll need to dig out a little trench between each block, to run your wires through.  For this reason, I started with the one that was farthest from the solar light, accumulating more wires in the trench with each brick I added.

Eventually I ended up at the solar light and soldered each of the block wires to one of the loose wires installed where the LEDs used to be in the solar light.  Let me tell you, soldering outdoors in the dark is a little bit trickier than doing it at the workbench!  Make sure you coat all your exposed wires in epoxy or silicone to keep the rain out.

When you're done, bury all the wires, flip the switch, and enjoy your Solar Powered Walkway!

Comments

[rocky04301961]

If you used a multi-conductor cable and multi-colored LED's you could wire it to a sequencer or a patch panel to change the colors with the holidays. Also, the larger the gauge wire means the less resistance and the further from the batteries the blocks can be located.

[TekgodCMS]

 I was just thinking that using telephone wire would be a good idea for this. (A) You'd get 4 or 5 wire pairs out of one wrapped wire (B)  you could expose the wires at the appropriate lengths and use electrical tape to reseal (C) if you wanted to hook up an arduino, everything is right there in a convenient package..  This was a great tutorial, and a great idea. I went out today and grabbed a glass block to start playing with.. 

[Grey_Wolfe]

Not a bad idea. You can also use CAT5 for the multiwire option.

I was gonna suggest that in the future you run the majority of your wire through tubing undergraound to help reduce corrosion. :)

[willrandship]

Yeah, you could, but cat5 is more expensive, isn't it? underground is definitely a good idea though, especially if you already have your cable in a protective bundle.

[depotdevoid]

Oh, good thought!  Telephone wire's a great idea. 

I bought my blocks used, but was thinking of getting some more.  Can you tell me where you bought them and how much they cost?

Thanks for the comment Tekgod!

[TekgodCMS]

 I got mine from Lowe's.. The had a couple of different designs, such as clear like yours, or an "icy" looking wavy look.. They were around 5 bucks each.  

[depotdevoid]

Wow, I guess craigslist served me well--I paid a buck fifty each.  I should have bought the whole pile of them!

[Macka]

Very nice.

The only thing it's missing is some sort of sensor to detect when you step on a block. When it is stepped on, change the colour of the block.

[depotdevoid]

That would be awesome, and totally Michael Jackson!