Well, solar panels only work one way, they collect energy from sunrays and output its charge to a source. In this case we all assume its directly to the sensors, as there is no saying about this in the manual.
However since there indeed is a rechargeable battery inside, it does seem like the solar panel will charge it, and then the battery will power the sensors to prolong battery life. This does make sense, but the question is, why on earth isn't this mentioned anywhere in the docs, and why isn't it connected at the factory?
I can only think of one possible reason for that: since the WMR200 sensors have batteries, perhaps the panel is only meant to be aiding those batteries during the daytime directly (bypassing the battery) for those sensors? Does OS have other sensors that have no batteries inside, and can only be powered by the panel's battery (and in such case the manual will instruct you to connect it) ? Thats the only logical thing I can think of.... that, or it's just a major oversight by OS in the documentation. If I had a power meter I could measure the current from the panel with or without the battery, but mine is fried atm
Thomas