- Joined
- Aug 8, 2013
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So, I'm a bit surprised these haven't been really suggested. Nobody thinks of solar panels in space? *Points at all the satellites floating around above us*
Anyway, this was an Idea I came up with while talking about stations and such.
First and foremost, These panels will produce double the power of normal power reactors, but they cannot be placed on ships, only stations. This way stations can have an easier time keeping power up while under attack or using lots of factories.
Now, for this bonus to be balanced, I thought of two cons, if you can think of others, id love to hear em:
-These panels MUST be placed OUTSIDE the station, and not be covered by other blocks and such.
-The station they are connected to MUST be in a system WITH A SUN and cannot have a planet between it and the sun.
Now, this of course, leaves them wide open for an attacking ship to shoot out, and therefore, eliminate any power bonus they give.
Solar panels will have an efficiency set-up, similar to how Power reactors have an efficiency set-up too, to make them more useful.
If you've ever seen the ISS, you know that most solar panels are very rectangular, and long over wide. I was thinking there should be a ratio something like (Using ZxXxY) 15x5x1 would be the most efficient (and ratios like 30x10x2, etc would also be within this parameter, which could be set by the server too.)
This is just a rough idea, and suggestions would be greatly appreciated on how this could be balanced even further. (And i don't wanna hear arguments about "Solar panels barely generate energy" Because we all know that this game is set in the far off future, and more likely than not we will have really good solar power generators by then)
Anyway, this was an Idea I came up with while talking about stations and such.
First and foremost, These panels will produce double the power of normal power reactors, but they cannot be placed on ships, only stations. This way stations can have an easier time keeping power up while under attack or using lots of factories.
Now, for this bonus to be balanced, I thought of two cons, if you can think of others, id love to hear em:
-These panels MUST be placed OUTSIDE the station, and not be covered by other blocks and such.
-The station they are connected to MUST be in a system WITH A SUN and cannot have a planet between it and the sun.
Now, this of course, leaves them wide open for an attacking ship to shoot out, and therefore, eliminate any power bonus they give.
Solar panels will have an efficiency set-up, similar to how Power reactors have an efficiency set-up too, to make them more useful.
If you've ever seen the ISS, you know that most solar panels are very rectangular, and long over wide. I was thinking there should be a ratio something like (Using ZxXxY) 15x5x1 would be the most efficient (and ratios like 30x10x2, etc would also be within this parameter, which could be set by the server too.)
This is just a rough idea, and suggestions would be greatly appreciated on how this could be balanced even further. (And i don't wanna hear arguments about "Solar panels barely generate energy" Because we all know that this game is set in the far off future, and more likely than not we will have really good solar power generators by then)
