A few questions on solar power for Bases ON PLANET I can't seem to get my base to stay charged after leaving the starter planet. How far from the sun should I be? I am testing a planet now that is 4.5 Au away from the sun, not sure that will work. I am guessing that I should be near the equator for best power generation? Does the atmosphere effect my power ? What else do I need to know?
I do not think that the distance from the sun matters, but I could be very wrong about that. Yes, being nearer to the equator yields better results. I do not think that the atmosphere matters. Again, could be wrong. Weather though, weather really effects things. So if you are on one of the starter planets that routinely experiences cloudy/over cast or worse weather then the charging will be dramatically diminished. From my experience the best planet for solar generation is the Arid start or Edens 2nd dead planet. The others vary and you can typically spend periods with little output. Hope that helps!
Atmospheric density, angle of the sun, anything blocking the panels, weather, and the light level of the planet all matter for solar on planets with an atmosphere.
Wait.... really? I routinely build on top of them and then park my ships there and the efficiency never changes? Also, I have had my base over hang then slightly and they still appeared to be fine. Have I been injuring my solar output this whole time and not had it reported or known?
It's in the playfield_static.yaml file for any given planet, at the top of the file ( DayLightIntensity ).
Solar panel productivity on a planet is calculated for each day, which mean you can know if the sky is going to be overcast by simply looking at the daily production on the panel in the morning (the green indicator). Their rotation does have an influence on their calculated productivity. I think they only need to be open air to work. Don't build a base beyond T2 or solar power won't be enough. Actually, it is better to stay T1, and put all the production in a secondary base under the protection of the solar base. Even that way, the solar base will be way beyond T1 CPU, but it shouldn't matter.
First off- you do know you can have more than one capacitor? I have 3. I have 5 large solar panels facing east, 5 straight up, and 5 west. I have no generator and fuel tank. I have two grow lights, oxygen, 2 fridges, food processor, 2 advanced constructors, pentaxid tank, T1 shield, 4 turrets, decontructor, furnace, and teleporter (It's on a motion sensor so it turns off the second you teleport and doesn't drain the battery- you can teleport to a non-active teleporter BTW). Obviously running all of that all the time would be impossible, so I choose to do different things. If I turn of everything but the grow lights, fridges, and oxygen- It can reach 100% battery charge in a day or two. During that time I just tend to crops and make food. I turn on the shield and turrets for drone base attacks (I haven't taken out the drone base yet because- free things). If I get a bunch of ore I'll put it in the furnace. I make and sell weapons, so I'll make a hundred or so every day. To me it's worth not burning through promethium and coming back to a powerless bases with spoiled food in the fridge. I think if I want to be more productive- just divide it into different bases. Have one for constructors, one for furnace etc. All near each other with wireless modules so I can seamlessly move things between them.
Oh! Actually solar power may be enough for T3, not sure about t4 (who build a t4 base anyway, unless it is for style and good look) , but since I mainly played on swamp planet, I did not realize how much power we could get on a clear planet. Solar power is weak on the swamp planet. But we actually don't need a base on the swamp planet. The polaris fire base gives us acces to 3 advanced constructors with 3 containers which have a volume of 16 000 each, and all the merchants we need to get our equipment. There is even a usable deconstructor in the digging site next to the fire base. (if it spawn, I remember a game it didn't apparently spawn) And so, the swamp planet is actually super easy after we get beyond the starting game. Then I decided to start on the ice planet, and the solar power is about 5-10 times stronger. Edit: WTF?! My solar base t2 can run with shield and weapons activated all the time on the ice planet. I only have sentry guns and projectile turrets, and the only function my base is missing is repair vessel. Only 1 advanced constructor too.
Based on DayLight/ NightLight intensity alone, Snow planet should yield less that Swamp ( 1.0 vs 1.4 ) but that's just one of the parameters. The planet's "tilt" has nothing to do with "angle of light rays" but means greater values = longer day time = more battery charge. Since these are randomly picked in a bracket from -25 to 25 ( negative = longer daytime in southern hemisphere, positive for same in northern) there could be a swamp planet with a 25 deg. tilt that receives less daylight than a snow planet with 0 deg. tilt. Only sure way to know would have to get the whole formula that is used to calculate solar input depending on playfield specifics. Also there can be variations in solar panels positions/ angles that make a difference from one setup to another. Not easy to make simple comparisons based only on planet type or approximate panels position.
From what I remember, I barely got 1 kpu average energy output on the good days on the swamp planet and around 500 when the weather is not good. Now on the ice planet, I get 6 kpu average energy output per day on the good days and usually 3 kpu for average days. It barely goes under 2 kpu on bad days. Distance from the sun does matter. (I didn't test it for planet, but I guess it should) I have build 2 bases in space. 1 that alloys me to teleport to a mining facility to buy ores. It is far away from the sun and only produces 800 pu with 6 solar panels at full power (4 leds on). I have build 1 right next to the sun just to test it and the base produces 5 kpu with 6 solar panels (not even at full power, only 3 leds on)
This isn't the best way to do it, and if you think about it you'll see why. As long as you have enough capacitors to store as much charge as your solar panels can produce throughout the day, it's better to angle all the solar panels towards the area of sky that produces the strongest intensity sun for the longest amount of time. Instead you are angling the solar panels to capture sun for the longest amount of time possible, but this collects a lower intensity of sunlight during that longer time period and overall collects less solar power. Point all the panels in the most effective direction.
All my solar panels are straight up lol. And "integrated" in the base's structure, because I don't want them to be exposed to zirax attack. It is a build for lvl5, and so, before getting the shield, it alloys solar panels to avoid being hit directly. I don't build a underground base, that's pretty useless in sp. And I don't build a base at the ground level either because depending on the base placement (especially if it is near a forest), enemy may spawn inside it. My base is in the air held by some pillars. 3 solar panels on top and 12 under the base. They don't care if they actually receive sunlight or not. Only 3 on the top because depending on the planet, I may let some holes on the top for plants to receive light without the need of using plant grow light. 1 thing that bothers me is solar panels really don't care about the sun. On a planet with a pretty big tilt, I had built a base near the pole, it is not a 24/24 h day place (I don't think the game alloys it) but the sun is always visible. Solar panels don't care, it is night time, no energy production even if the sun is clearly visible at the horizon and the sky is still clear with no star at all.
straight up is best if you're near the equator edit: well, depending on the angle of the planet, it can be complicated but you can basically tell visually which way to angle the panels. Each planet has an angle and it affects the sun in some calculations sometimes depending on where on the planet you are. Solar can be a little flaky sometimes but it more or less works like it's supposed to if you kind of guesstimate where to angle the panels
Here's a more comprehensive answer: Code: distance (AU) Loc Sun/planet Version Type Eff Max Bars PV angle PU Avg. (instant) 4 orbit M/orbit 1.9.14 Multi Default Big x 1 1.8 4 perfect 414 1.2 orbit M/orbit 1.9.14 Multi Default Big x 1 1.8 4 perfect 1000 3.3 orbit F/orbit 1.9.14 Multi Default Big x 1 1.8 4 perfect 560 6.6 orbit F/orbit 1.9.14 Multi Default Big x 1 1.8 4 perfect 144 1.1 orbit K/orbit 1.9.14 Multi Default Big x 1 1.8 4 perfect 1080 1.2 orbit K/orbit 1.9.14 Multi Default Big x 1 1.8 4 perfect 1080 5.1 equator K/desert 1.9.14 Multi Default Big x 1 1.8 4 good 60 (181) ? pole ? 1.9.14 Multi Default Big x 1 1.8 ? ? ?
