Basic requirements for generating solar energy
First, you need a solar capacitor. In fact, it works like a conventional generator, which produces 5 MW, which is twice the capacity of a small generator (2,5 MW) and will use fuel from the fuel tanks when the capacitor bank is empty. It is worth adding a backup power source in the form of one or two fuel tanks and using them instead of a small generator for initial requirements.
The battery level is displayed in the lower right corner of the control panel. The base battery will always use the battery power first and then the fuel in the tanks.
Then you will need a solar panel (the maximum allowed on the base is twenty).
Arrangement of solar panels
The correct placement of the panels is very important. They must have a clear line of sight to sunlight in order to be most effective, so if a building casts its shadow on the panel at any time during the day, the panel's efficiency is reduced.
You should position the panels in the opposite direction to the shadow of your base, this will give you the best result. If your base is above or below the equator, the efficiency will be lower; also the panel will be influenced by the atmosphere and weather.
The indicator in the lower left corner shows the overall (maximum) level of efficiency. You have to play around with the tilt and position until you get the best result. 4 green blocks - maximum efficiency.
The indicator at the bottom right shows the current efficiency of the panel.
Energy consumption and output
An indicator on the statistics page will show you the current output of your panels and the average output they produce. It also shows the current consumption of your base.
If the average power (or current output) is less than the "Consumption" of your base, then the solar panels will not charge the battery - they will slow down the rate of fuel consumption in the fuel tanks.
If you don't have fuel tanks in reserve, you will find that your battery never charges to maintain base power, and your base loses power when Current Output drops to zero and night falls.
Generally, if you want to maintain a solar powered base, your consumption should be about a third of the average performance (more if the weather gets worse).
Solar powered base
If you want to run your base only on solar energy, you need to pay attention to the base “Consumption” level and manage the devices to keep them at a manageable level.
There are different ways to do this. For example, you can add more panels (up to 20) to improve performance and increase power. Each panel can produce 50-60kW of power, so you can produce up to 1MW of power. This means that you use a maximum of 300 kW of consumption to supply the base.
The best way to use solar energy is to set up device grouping in the control panel. Add non-essential devices or those that use a lot of energy to the Power Generator group.
Then add a switch to turn on / off the items for which you want to use generator power. Then you can activate the generator power when you need it, and use the low-power solar panel the rest of the time.
To do this, you need to carefully select the items you deem necessary and add energy values.
Always On items do not have an on / off switch, so they cannot be deactivated. This includes items such as armor-piercing cabinets, cloning / medical stations, fuel tanks, and the core.
Also note that the Deco Antenna uses 20 kW and cannot be turned off!
Thus, in the example above, the power for all elements is up to 32 kW:
However, the base also has "non-disconnectable" items that add extra power:
This means that the minimum solar energy consumption is 64 kW.
Power requirements
Always on
Switchable (On / Off)
