Solar current is an increasingly important aspect of modern life and will be even more so crucial in the students' future. Encouraging students to be the "toolmakers" allows students to take ownership of scientific investigations, as well as forcing them to refine their research questions and hypothesis, including the design and refinement of their tools. The modern day has seen an unprecedented opportunity for toolmaking, in the form of adapting and programming apps that use the micro-electro-mechanical sensors that are an intrinsic part of smartphone technology. A sample in-class experiment and an experimental investigation are presented; these represent an increase in toolmaking and student ownership with a corresponding decrease in teacher guidance. Toolmaking progresses from the construction of a physical sunspotter, using a hand lens and cut-off tube, using apps, to future considerations such as programming, adapting pre-existing code samples to be able to manipulate the smartphone sensors.