Portable solar panel

Portable solar panel is an equipment item that provides solar-generated electric power while it is exposed to daylight. Solar equipment produces energy only during the day; to maintain power through the night you must store energy in accumulators or otherwise avoid night consumption.

A single normal-quality solar panel outputs an average of 42 kW over a full day on Nauvis. To sustain a constant power output through the night using normal-quality accumulators, one normal-quality solar panel requires about 0.84672 accumulators (≈ 0.85). It takes approximately 23.8 solar panels to supply 1 MW of continuous power from generation alone and to charge roughly 20.2 accumulators so that 1 MW can be sustained during the night. A common rule of thumb used for planning is 25 solar panels to 21 accumulators, which yields just over 1 MW of continuous capacity; a simpler close ratio is 6 solar panels to 5 accumulators (≈ 0.83 accumulators per solar panel).

Optimal ratios between solar panels and accumulators depend on the quality of both pieces of equipment and on the planet where they are used. The ratio values typically given assume normal-quality accumulators; when using accumulators of higher quality, divide the shown ratio by 2/3/4/6 for uncommon/rare/epic/legendary accumulator qualities respectively. Exact optimal ratios vary by planet and by equipment quality.

Solar energy management often combines generation with storage or operational scheduling. Accumulators are the straightforward method to store daytime energy for night use. Alternatively, it can be more economical to avoid consuming energy at night by producing and stockpiling the goods your factory needs during the day (for example, run extra electric mining drills and furnaces to accumulate plates and then shut those consumers down at night). Designing a separate electric network that supplies exactly enough solar panels to run a set of production machines during the day and keeping that network isolated from the main base network is an effective way to implement daytime-only production and reduce accumulator requirements.

• A normal solar panel averages 42 kW on Nauvis; use ~0.85 accumulators per panel to cover night consumption.
• Planning shorthand: ~24 solar panels + ~20 accumulators per 1 MW, or use the 25 panels : 21 accumulators rule-of-thumb.
• Adjust solar-to-accumulator ratios for accumulator quality by dividing the base ratio by 2/3/4/6 for uncommon/rare/epic/legendary accumulators.
• Consider storing produced goods instead of energy to avoid night power needs and reduce accumulator infrastructure.