Batteries.

Think about that word. They are pretty much EVERYWHERE. If you think about it, we use them EVERYWHERE, too. They are inside our phones, our tablets, our iPods (Which I use to take my pictures. If they're low quality, you know why. Light around it makes it look WAY better.), our iPhones, our toys, our homes, our cars, God knows what else! We use them for a VERY long time, and they do their best! And, as we're enjoying everything else about them, the worst, scariest, most sinister thing happens to the battery:

They die.

Alessandra Volta made batteries in the 1800's. They have evolved, and new ones have been created. New ones, such as AAA's, AA's, 9V's, D's, AAAA's, the list goes ON AND ON! One of my favorites is the rechargeable 9V battery (I prototype sometimes with them and use my altoids charger with them. To see that, go to my page.), So when it dies out, I can just recharge it. I decided to make a Solar Battery, which is my own model of something that is able to recharge 9V batteries without the battery leaking energy into it while charging.

Parts

-Solar Panel

-Diode (2X)

-Toggle Switch

-LED's (This is optional. I got a red, orange, yellow, and green.)

-350 ohm resistors (If you get the LED's)

-LED bezels (If you get the LED's. Also optional even if you get the LED's.)

-22uF capacitor (Smooths out the 9V)

-Battery Clip

-Perf Board

-Wire

-Large Altiods Tin

-Soldering Iron

-Solder

-Hot glue

-Electrical Tape

Step 1: How Does It Work?

This project runs on a 9V power source. So, you will need to get a 9V solar panel. Mine was a 9V 2W solar panel from Amazon. It came with a diode, and the solar panel had a sign on its positive side. Solder that diode with the white ring facing in the right direction. Solder the switch on. The + goes to the switch if it is a SPST. Then solder the + wire and the - wire in place. Solder that on the perf board. Attatch the red LED to the perf board. Then put the 22uF next to the red LED. The arrow on the side and the short leg is the negative, so solder it to the - leg of the LED (The short leg). Put the orange LED after the 22uF. Then, get some wire. Solder the wires from that perf board to another. The previous perf board doesn't have to be big. This one will be about the same size. Solder the wires to the orange LED. Then, out in the battery clip, red wire is +, black is -. You will need a diode to solder on the wire clip. If you don't, then when you charge it, it will LEAK electricity into the circuit. So, solder the diode going towards the clip. After that, solder the green LED. If that lights up, then it means that it is up and charging.

Step 2: The LED's

The LED's have their own setup.

Get the 350 ohm resistors. I couldn't find any on the website I shop on,

www.taydaelectronics.com

So, I got a 330 ohm resistor and a 20 and soldered them together. Then, just solder one of the end legs to the positive leg of the LED. That is the long leg. The short leg goes to the negative, and you don't need to solder anything but the - input to it. That is really all.

Step 3: SOLDER!

The best part of it all. Just start soldering. Use the directions from step two.

Step 4: Finished!

The final product. I took the board that my iPod came in, sawed a little part off, and hot glued it to the side. The battery rests on that. I hot glued the clip on the front of it. Works well, and the hot glue holds on well and doesn't show any signs of breaking it at all.

Also, leave in the comments what I should do to make it better...
What should I build next?