Solar Panels Power Generation to Scale with Material

[Akeno017]

Currently ingame, there is absolutely zero reason to build the Solar Panel blocks ingame. As titanium (which can be found in the spawn system) generators are just superior.
This is only worsened by the progression further in the game as generators with each tier progressively produce more and more power, while Solar Panels recieve no similiar gains.

Some Examples:
100x1x100 Titanium Solar Panel: 20.4Gw
100x1x100 Titanium Generator: 825Gw
100x1x100 Ogonite Solar Panel: 20.4Gw
100x1x100 Ogonite Generator: 1500Gw

If the same scaling of Titanium>Ogonite is applied to solar panels, the resultant power output would be 36.72Gw.

[Dysivian]

I love solar panels for the look of it, sadly it performs little to no real functionality indeed, except for keeping the ship lighter and more agile, which other blocks and material already do too.

 

I always hoped they would buff them accordingly and add angular, rectangal solar panels which would give more options too when building instead of only blocks of solar panels.

[RochetBrianna]

It would be awesome if the game added different types of panels or adjusted how they scale so we have more choices. If you're curious about how solar power works in real life or want some tips on getting the most out of it, chatting with solar panel installers ireland https://solarsmart.ie/ could be a good idea. They might have some great advice on making solar power more efficient.

Edited 3 hours ago by RochetBrianna

[jgrahl]

Solar Panels, with their low power generation, are more of a cosmetic block choice to me.

They could provide niche benefits for the following reasons vs a Titanium Generator block:

• Solar panels contribute 0 processing power.  A way to increase power generation when at a processing power limit.
• Lower mass per volume
• Lower Hyperspace Cooldown per volume, due to less mass
• Lower Hyperspace Jump Energy per volume, due to less mass
• Fewer Required Mechanics
• Can be built with Iron, when Titanium is not available.  I know, unlikely.

Using a single 1x1x1 Titanium Generator block vs using 20x 1x0.05x1 Solar Panel blocks to match the volume:

• 82.5 MW vs 44 MW power generation

Since Solar panels are actually generating power based on surface area on one side, it is better to make them thin.  You can also stack them on top of each other and not lose any power generation. I will use a single 100x1x100 Titanium Generator vs 20x 100x0.05x100 Titanium Solar Panels to match your example by volume. 

Left side is Titanium Generator, right side is Titanium Solar Panel.  Green is better, red is worse, in most cases. Ship stat differences:

• Hull 7.5 k hp vs 3.75 k hp
• Mass 400 kt vs 50 kt
• Hyperspace Cooldown 86.7 vs 43.6
• Processing power 10,000 (10k) vs 0
• 825.5 GW vs 400.9 GW
• Hyperspace Jump Energy 400 GJ vs 50 GJ
• Req. Mechanics 34 vs 17

Matching Mass (160 Panels):

• Hull 7.5 k hp vs 30 k hp
• Mass 400 kt vs 400 kt
• Hyperspace Cooldown 86.7 vs 86.7
• Processing power 10,000 (10k) vs 0
• 825.5 GW vs 3.2 TW
• Hyperspace Jump Energy 400 GJ vs 400 GJ
• Req. Mechanics 34 vs 134

You can see matching volume is more beneficial to Solar Panels in some ways.  Less mass is more beneficial for Hyperspace Cooldown and Hyperspace Jump Energy.  None of this is even considering ship maneuverability yet.

Make Solar Panels as thin as the game will allow.

Edited September 4 by jgrahl
added stacking note