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More fixed solar panels (procedural?) [mod/stock?]


Helmetman

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NUnCZce.jpg

Full album :http://imgur.com/a/ZsU6l

I created this solar powered electric plane using...

Quote

Tweakscale
Procedural parts
Procedural Fairings
Procedural Dynamics
KAX
Firespitter
I also have NFP but doesn't offer what I need.



This airplane will weigh about 533 KG (1170 Lb) with all the necessary solar panels attached. It is intended to be very light, highly maneuverable and cover distance through Duna's atmosphere.


1:Remodel or add to annoying fixed stock photovoltaic panels!

Why haven't I installed all of them panels yet?

Well, take a look at the album then  at the 1st and 2nd picture. On the first picture the fixed stock solar panel is dropped on, and I didn't use move tool in the SPH.
It sticks out due to the beam guards/raisers that raises the panel surface above the wing. So much so that if I would cover the thing it would look like a biplane due to the dimensional size.

If I drag them down they stick out down the bottom which the 2nd pic shows.
Now they actually look like beam guards protecting the wing seen on the 2nd pic. I'm not sure if they function like one, but the bottom line is that I'd rather not see those beams stick out. Is this a great problem? NO! But it is still annoying.

So, are there any panels out there that match my design that are tweakscalable albeit with some config changes which you'll have to instruct me as I don't know how to.

The thing is, there is cosmetic design in this and should look at such. Solar panels sticking out certainly don't contribute to that criteria. Just saying before someone tells me to deal with it, which I obviously have to in case of disappointment:p

Are there any fixed solar panels that do not have grip handles or beam guards, surface attachers, raisers or anything structural sticking out? 
They 'must' work with tweakscale unless they're coincidentally the correct size which is unlikely.

Why are the stock panels modelled with those beam fixed surface attachers anyway? Many photovoltaic panels are just integrated surfaces irl. Which is exactly what I want! 

Give me a few options please. Only fixed ones work in the atmosphere. I know it's far more likely in KSP for somebody to go into space with great interplanetary vessels.
Rather then making a miniature carbon fibre replica of a home build 1 seater cabrio aircraft. So I can't complain if theres no applications for what I need.
I would want to ask the modding community if they can focus a little bit more attention on the availability in terms of size, shapes for fixed solar panels. Unless I'm the only character that wants this.

Maybe Nertea can add more fixed solar panels in a new version of NFP? The ones it got I already like, they're just useless in this design. Even with tweakscale! The shapes and the sticking out of things just don't match.

2:Procedural panels?

I've been browsing forum.ksp.com occasionally and am aware of the negligence towards the request of this and that it has been requested before. Why is this?

I'm not expecting everyone to turn their heads around. Launching spaceships is far more interesting then something more infantile as this.

But if you can create procedural wings (procedural dynamics) then can't someone model something similar for a fixed solar panel object? I'm a blank man in the programming world otherwise I would have cracked it.
Ultimately I can understand why there isn't such a thing yet. In stock ION's don't work well enough in the atmosphere (where you'll need fixed panels)
And as a large scale powerplant you'll probably only need it when your using the electric propeller from KAX. Otherwise you'll use reactors from different mods. Which are a little bit to heavy in this design even when tweakscaled.

In all other scenarios your in outer space where you don't require fixed panels.

So I understand why this part may be neglected both in stock and in the modding community. But I'm sure I explained well enough why I really want/need it.
If you can make me happy in the future with some of these photovoltaic parts then I'm a really happy guy.

 

 

 

 

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It's possible that he might not. But I'm still in the process of verifying whether there are some obscure not so popular mods out there that have one of more preferred solar panels for my design choice. But I would personally request more of them panels anyway, because the current selection is one handful of fixed panels.

I hope this thread clarifies whether something like this exist in the haystack of all mods. If not I probably request this in the procedural parts or NFP release page.

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@SpaceMouse Hehe :sticktongue:

I did more of a search myself last night and can only conclude there's not much available for what I want. Sad things are sad. I'm probably going to make a few vessels as an example to advertise the potential need for this when using surface and air vehicles. Then I'll ask and post some of the examples in NFP or PP if that's the best place to request this if this ends on the 2nd page.

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Seems like what you'd want ideally would be:

  • A special wing part with a "toggle solar panels" option that would swap out the texture to make the top part of the wing look like solar panels and enable a new module to generate power like a solar panel; or
  • A special scalable solar panel part that would deform to fit the shape of the surface it's placed on, so you could place it on top of a wing and drag it out to cover and fit the top surface of the wing while making it a few centimeters thicker.

That way you'd have solar panels on wings without changing their shape. Failing that, a toggle for the stock panels to remove those mounting frame things. That might be easiest, as you should be able to edit the model in Blender and remove that bit.

On 9/12/2017 at 11:05 AM, SpaceMouse said:

I have nothing to do with the procedural parts mod but, since it's already adapting a texture it doesn't seem like it would be that hard... The author may just not be interested in doing it.

Regarding ProceduralParts, several developers have contributed to it, and it is currently maintained by someone other than the original creator, so "the author" is not one single person. It does have a texture swapping capability, but it assumes roughly cylindrical objects, and a solar panel is a lot more than just a texture; you would need to implement the power generation stuff, and I don't think PP has anything for that at the moment, batteries notwithstanding. You could try posting a feature request at the repo:

https://github.com/Starwaster/ProceduralParts/issues

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@SpaceMouse Awesome if your willing to do this. The mounting brackets is my greater annoyance. That was kind of the first I wanted gone and is a must. 

@HebaruSan As for option one: Yes, great idea. I'm willing to mention that I'd prefer the leading and trailing edges of the wing to remain a stock aluminum appearance. So there should be a option toggle to turn any or multiple sides into a edge like appearance. Whatever side that is considering how your allowed to rotate it. 

I'm not sure if that's a hassle. This option is great in any other way without such a toggle of different texture prints. It could do without it but it would be more neat.

As for option two: Greater secondary idea. Again I'd advice to deform it with some left over space for the wing edges to make it look neat. I would prefer this idea since it auto fits the wing part and would lower part count. People could use native large wing parts though so I hope someone puts some thought in the texture size.

 

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@steedcrugeon Kind of. If there are i.e. helios wing parts with integrated solar panels somewhere buried online then I'm satisfied. Or solar panels that integrate well into a surface of a lower width wing without sticking out.

As long as the weight, dimensions and EC parameters are similar to stock per sq inch of solar panel and it won't stick out after moving it to integrate with the attached surface it would be sufficient.

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