large vs small solour panels

[katiekat3000]

so ben wotching a tun of videos and i guess my question tothe devs or anyone who knowsthe ancer is.

why bild small solour panels? it feals like Large ones are better in eavey way.

so i cant see a reasin to bild small short of just wonting too.

 

[XanTraX]

maybe just to fill gaps between big ones

 

[katiekat3000]

hmm intristing idea maybe

 

[Boyan_Haemimont]

Personally I mostly use small solar panels when I need some small infrastructure which I don't want to connect to the main power line - a good example is a couple of recharging stations with a single solar panel to power them or a sensor tower if I don't have the Autonomous Sensors tech yet.

 

[Fmello]

Personally I mostly use small solar panels when I need some small infrastructure which I don't want to connect to the main power line - a good example is a couple of recharging stations with a single solar panel to power them or a sensor tower if I don't have the Autonomous Sensors tech yet.

Yup, a small solar panel will generate just enough charge to power a sensor tower throughout the day, That is going to be my starting plan if I don't have the autonomous sensor tech. I also plan to do something similar with the concrete extractors as well. Instead of laying long paths of cable from a concrete extractor to a dome, I will have a small length of cable attached to a large solar panel. I will space it just out of the excavator's dust range in order to minimize repairs. Then set a cargo route to deliver the concrete where it's needed.

 

[katiekat3000]

ok yea both good ideas ty i just wonderd it seamed redundint but i had not thort of tings likethat like that

 

[talisman56]

I suppose that if you have an extractor or producer out in the sticks, instead of running power cables down to it you can use a small solar panel (or two, for redundancy) to power it in isolation.

 

[Turin the Mad]

Makes sense. The less maintenance the drones have to do, the better. Maintenance on power cables and pipes is per 5-hex lengths IIRC from the YouTube videos.

 

[Blizzard_Haemimont]

Small scale power/life support networks are super sensible in the long run - they get almost no pipe leaks/cable faults. Keeping everything connected in one large network is tempting, but maintenance creates a constant metal drain; power, oxygen and water losses, as well as additional workload for the drones.

There is also a third playstyle - keeping your networks separated by circuit breakers and connecting them only during emergencies.

 

[Veggeh]

There is also a third playstyle - keeping your networks separated by circuit breakers and connecting them only during emergencies.

This is something I've been concocting in my own mind. Making sure the domes have their own power supply systems away from the main grid of production resources, though they'd still be connected to the main grid via switches so if the dome grid fails I can temporarily run the dome off the main grid until the problem is fixed. This could also work vice versa if the dome grid has power to spare and the main grid needs a little extra juice whilst I build new power supplies for it. No idea how efficient this will be until I can play.

 

[talisman56]

This is something I've been concocting in my own mind. Making sure the domes have their own power supply systems away from the main grid of production resources, though they'd still be connected to the main grid via switches so if the dome grid fails I can temporarily run the dome off the main grid until the problem is fixed. This could also work vice versa if the dome grid has power to spare and the main grid needs a little extra juice whilst I build new power supplies for it. No idea how efficient this will be until I can play.

Similar to the way I'm thinking - small, self-contained circuits to reduce the chances of damage and limit losses when the pipes/cables spring a leak...

 

[CocoCincinnati]

I like how it's set up. Large solar panels for the large scale main power generation and smaller cheaper panels for more localized and specialized needs. Seems to perfectly offset and balance each other.

 

[Beric]

There is also a third playstyle - keeping your networks separated by circuit breakers and connecting them only during emergencies.

Wait - does a pipe/cable not need maintenance if something is not flowing through it? If so this could work quite well.

 

[Holce]

For the same power generation Large panel cost 60% more. But small panel need 25% more maintenance.

20 power:
4 large panels: 16 cost and 4 maintenance.
10 small panels: 10 cost and 5 maintenance.

The small cost less until repair 6 times. If you plan to destroy them (getting concrete with a rover), you will get half of the cost back. So if the panel are repaired less than 3 times, small ones are more efficient. They are better for smal power isolated building or short duration power.

 

[Holce]

Wait - does a pipe/cable not need maintenance if something is not flowing through it? If so this could work quite well.

I am not sure how maintenance work. But it seem that a building not working does not need maintenance. One streamer had 0.9 polymer maintenance. He had 1200 energy stocked (8 batery with upgrade) and an medium dome. All need 1 polymer for maintenance. I assume that a buidling working will need maintenance every 10 sol. It may be different dependings on the building. But building can be cover by dust. More the building have dust more it will need maintenance.

I think There is 2 counters, one for dust and one for working time. Both is used to determine when the building need maintenance.

 

[FunkyBigodon]

I am not sure how maintenance work. But it seem that a building not working does not need maintenance. .

I don't remember where exactly I saw it, but I remember reading someone saying that building maintenance depends entirely on dust, so regardless if the building is running or not, dust will accumulate and the building will need to be maintained. The difference would be that if the building is not running, drones will not fix it until the building is reactivated. It would be nice to have someone confirm this information, though. Cheers!

 

[GAGA Extrem]

[...]
There is also a third playstyle - keeping your networks separated by circuit breakers and connecting them only during emergencies.

That reminds me of something I never figured out:
Can I use buildings to "interrupt" a network if I connect to them from one side and contiue from another?

For example:
[P-i-p-e-s]-[Tank]-[P-i-p-e-s]
or
[C-a-b-l-e-s]-[Solar Panel]-[C-a-b-l-e-s]

In regards of the solar panels:
Small ones can be useful to fill in gaps, but they are certainly a rather niche thing. And if you have the money, Stirling Generators are by far the better option for power generation anyway (due to not requiring any maintenance while closed and being insanely powerful late game with Scrubbers).

 

[Holce]

I don't remember where exactly I saw it, but I remember reading someone saying that building maintenance depends entirely on dust

It may be possible. I was thinking that before. But building in domes require maintenance too. If there are dust in your domes you have worse source of worry than maintenance. So I supose than working may increase the need for maintenance. Of course dust is the main offender. I agree it would be fine to get confirmation. It is hard to determine such mechanism only by watching streams....

 

[ghostbirdofprey]

This is something I've been concocting in my own mind. Making sure the domes have their own power supply systems away from the main grid of production resources, though they'd still be connected to the main grid via switches so if the dome grid fails I can temporarily run the dome off the main grid until the problem is fixed. This could also work vice versa if the dome grid has power to spare and the main grid needs a little extra juice whilst I build new power supplies for it. No idea how efficient this will be until I can play.

Something I am planning to do that seems to run counter to what most of the streamers are doing is that I want to put my accumulators and tanks as close to the domes as possible in case there is a fault or damage to the producers. The youtubers seem to like putting all of that stuff right next to the windmills and MOXIEs, etc.

 

[Holce]

Something I am planning to do that seems to run counter to what most of the streamers are doing is that I want to put my accumulators and tanks as close to the domes as possible in case there is a fault or damage to the producers. The youtubers seem to like putting all of that stuff right next to the windmills and MOXIEs, etc.

I will start with solar panels first until the first dome and use few turbines for the dome(less machine parts than possible). I will need a accumulator next to the solar panel farm. Having one tank of each in the main pipe (the one that will connect each dome) is good. You can create some reserve until you decided where to place your first dome. Other tanks will get built next to the domes.

I don't know how the connections for domes works. A dome has 3 zones to connect pipes. If you connect 2 pipes in 2 different zones, will the pipes be connected together through the domes? If it is the case, I will probably put the tanks on another connection and put a switch to separate the done from the main pipe.