How use solar Panels?

[Sirveri]

Figure out your day time draw, we'll say it is 30, add 50%, that makes 45. You need 9 solar panels (at 5 per panel) and 2 batteries to cover the 30. That is all there is to it. Just add 50% to the draw, then everything can run 24/7. I would also recommend separate power grids with switches for emergencies. Smaller grids are better grids.

 

[zenstrive]

Just don't forget for each dome you need to have at least one power accumulator, one water tank, one oxygen tank. Just multiply that by two for medium domes and by four for mega domes. Mega Domes should be powered by fusion reactors and atomic accumulators too.

 

[dumbo11]

Try that with the paradox sponsor. The IMM is not the path to optimal build habits.

I've mostly only played Russia and the church as I find that Paradox is glacially slow at the start.

But, I find it's just easier with turbines:
- the metal consumption in maintenance is under half of an equivalent solar setup. (a turbine consumes 0.5 machine parts per maintenance, you need far fewer turbines than solar and dust storms are irrelevant).
- there is zero polymer maintenance. It's only used for construction until medium+ domes.

Put up a machine parts factory in the second dome, and everything just works. /shrug

 

[Sirveri]

I've mostly only played Russia and the church as I find that Paradox is glacially slow at the start.

But, I find it's just easier with turbines:
- the metal consumption in maintenance is under half of an equivalent solar setup. (a turbine consumes 0.5 machine parts per maintenance, you need far fewer turbines than solar and dust storms are irrelevant).
- there is zero polymer maintenance. It's only used for construction until medium+ domes.

Put up a machine parts factory in the second dome, and everything just works. /shrug

It actually takes 2 metal to make a machine part, last time I tracked it, you can sit and watch the factory, it pulls at a 2:1 ratio. That said you're ignoring some important things.
Like that a machine part factory requires 30 energy, and 5 workers per shift. Compared to a polymer factory which takes 6 workers per shift, but only requires 2 energy (and is cheaper to buy prefab). You could add 15 energy to the total to run two vaporators and a fuel plant, but it still wins out on power costs. Setup costs are also important, solar only takes metal, turbines take concrete and machine parts.

Personally I find a blended approach works best, but I start solar heavy and only use turbines sparingly in the beginning until I get my domes up and running, then once I can be sure of a supply of metal and parts I start to more heavily rely on turbines, until I switch to stirlings around late-mid game. I also have been using micro grids lately because low load grids appear to get cable faults less frequently, those I find easier to balance mathematically with solar.

 

[dumbo11]

It actually takes 2 metal to make a machine part, last time I tracked it, you can sit and watch the factory, it pulls at a 2:1 ratio. That said you're ignoring some important things.

I did try this once, and it seemed to be 1:1, but I'm not convinced that was correct. Annoyingly the lua source doesn't specify a consumption_amount for the machine parts factory .

Like that a machine part factory requires 30 energy, and 5 workers per shift. Compared to a polymer factory which takes 6 workers per shift, but only requires 2 energy (and is cheaper to buy prefab). You could add 15 energy to the total to run two vaporators and a fuel plant, but it still wins out on power costs. Setup costs are also important, solar only takes metal, turbines take concrete and machine parts.

The main cost of producing concrete is machine parts (especially if you use turbines).

Otherwise, it certainly is much easier to produce polymer - but if I build turbines, I have no real need to produce polymer. Nothing in the early game (except batteries) consumes polymer - whereas my extractors are always chewing through machine parts like crazy, and life-support equipment/storage is using metal like it's going out of fashion.

I don't think there's a right or wrong answer, but personally I don't think solar is efficient, especially if you have dust storms.

 

[UncleGamer]

So read some of this and it might have already been said, manage your energy usage. I turn off a number of buildings at night. I do not run night shifts in factories, I also turn off concrete at night once I hit a certain level. This drastically reduces the need for batteries.

Also do not rely on a single form of power. I always have some wind and a few Sterling just to make sure my domes, water and O2 are always powered just in case.