A solar-powered external wall light is used as the housing for this solar sensor. This gives protection to IP44 and provides a means to recharge an internal 1.5v NiMH battery. The larger circuit board in the photo is derived from Project 2016-27 and provides 5 volts for the photodiode amplifier which is based on a standard transimpedance design.
Components used in photodiode amplifier
Operational amplifier: AD820
Silicon photodiode: Ferranti MS600
RF: 20kΩ variable resistor
CF: 47pF
External connections (5-way Rean Mini XLR plug):
Pin 1: Photodiode output (blue in BT lead)
Pin 5: GND (green in BT lead)