Solar Panel

Large Ship / Station

Solar Panel

 

Components

Required

 

 

Construction Component

3

 

 

Solar Cell

64

 

Computer

2

 

Steel Plate

4

 

Large Steel Tube

1

 

Construction Component

7

 

 

Mass (kg):

0

 

Integrity:

0

 

Build time (seconds):

140

 

Max power output (MW):

0.12

 

Airtight:

No

 

Power Producer Group:

Solar Panel

 

Dimensions (W x H x D):

2 x 4 x 1

Small Ship

Solar Panel

 

Components

Required

 

 

Bulletproof Glass

1

 

 

Solar Cell

16

 

Computer

1

 

Steel Plate

2

 

Girder

4

 

Construction Component

2

 

 

Mass (kg):

0

 

Integrity:

0

 

Build time (seconds):

40

 

Max power output (MW):

0.03

 

Airtight:

No

 

Power Producer Group:

Solar Panel

 

Dimensions (W x H x D):

5 x 10 x 1

Overview

Solar Panels are for generating a small amount of power. Power generated depends on the angle to the sun and whether or not the panel is in shadow. It's best used when it is perpendicular to the sun and tracking it as it moves while being completely unobstructed, anything including other ships and floating debris can obstruct sunlight and therefore reduce output. Solar Panels produces a small amount of power compared to Reactors, but can be enough to keep core systems (e.g. the Medical Room) running in case of a fault. A key component is Solar Cells, which requires considerable amounts of Nickel to fabricate.

Usage

The panels are best used with Batteries set to recharge or auto mode, so as to create MW power output when required, for short periods. For example two Batteries charged by solar panels is able to power a 5MW required machine (refinery, assembler etc) for as long as the batteries remain charged.

For more information, see Electricity.

Known Issues

• At this time, there is no way to assign where the power of the solar panels go too. The solar panels currently power the entire grid.
• When multiple grids are connected together, the power management systems sometimes become confused leaving some solar panels underutilized and while depleting batteries or using reactors. This should not be happening when there is free solar capacity available.

See Also

• Battery
• Oxygen Farm
• Electricity

Programming

• Action List - Solar Panel

Update History

Update 01.141	Can be turned on or off
Update 01.046	Fixed completed solar panels do not have sun reflection
Update 01.045	Improved rendering performance of solar panels
Update 01.039	Solar Panels output increased. Large panels from 6 kW to 120 Kw, small panels from 1.5 kW to 30 kW. While the resource cost for Solar Cells, a key ingredient for the Solar Panel was made considerably cheaper.
Update 01.038.013	Fixed solar panels turned off after ship spawn
Update 01.023.014	Fixed update of power in solar panel
Update 01.023	Fixed broken mirroring of solar panels
Update 01.022	Solar Panels introduced Reduced Solar Cell cost by approx. 80%