Solar panels still unbalanced (and suggested new values)

[Paul Kingtiger]

I was hoping that the solar panels would receive some balancing work for 1.0 but they are the same values as before.

The issue is that the smallest panel OX-STAT produces 4.69 electric charge per second per Meter squared. Where as the Giganator produces only 1.47 per meter sq.

So apart from part count why would you ever use the large panels?

[table=width: 500]

[tr]

[td]Panel[/td]

[td]ECU Stock[/td]

[td]ECU per M2 Stock[/td]

[td]ECU suggested[/td]

[td]ECU per M2 suggested[/td]

[/tr]

[tr]

[td]OX-STAT[/td]

[td]0.75[/td]

[td]4.96[/td]

[td]0.4[/td]

[td]2.44[/td]

[/tr]

[tr]

[td]OX-4L[/td]

[td]2[/td]

[td]2.44[/td]

[td]2[/td]

[td]2.44[/td]

[/tr]

[tr]

[td]Giganator[/td]

[td]18[/td]

[td]1.47[/td]

[td]29.8[/td]

[td]2.44[/td]

[/tr]

[/table]

These changes would make each panel equally efficient and give you more reason to use larger panels.

[Joonatan1998]

The smallest panel probably should produce more/ton because it doesn't have tracking.

[Paul Kingtiger]

The smallest panel probably should produce more/ton because it doesn't have tracking.

Figures I've given are per square meter of panel area. But I do agree that the smaller panel should be a little lighter due to not having tracking.

This is something that is turbo easy to fix via a module manager config, but it would be great if it was changed in stock.

[Joonatan1998]

i didn't notice its per square meter...

It doesn't really affect balance at all how much energy is generated /m^2

Every solar panel being as efficient as all others isn't really realistic, there are many kinds of solar panels. Some are more efficient than others.

[Paul Kingtiger]

i didn't notice its per square meter...

It doesn't really affect balance at all how much energy is generated /m^2

Every solar panel being as efficient as all others isn't really realistic, there are many kinds of solar panels. Some are more efficient than others.

Problem is the small panels are first on the tech tree, and the lightest and cheapest per electric charge so there's no reason to use larger panels except part count. The small panels are the best in every way.

[Laie]

Yeah, but the small ones don't track.

My gripe is more with the Gigantor. Never mind the area, but by weight it should at least be competitive with the smaller tracking panels. Maybe slightly worse, because more structural stuff, maybe even better. But right now, it's not even worth being considered -- unless you go for good looks, of course.

[John FX]

Don't the smallest panels also weigh nothing or has that changed?

[pincushionman]

Solar panels can now act as radiators. Not sure how useful that is, but the big ones may be way better at it. I think it will come into play heavily during mining.

[VolgarTheMighty]

Don't the smallest panels also weigh nothing or has that changed?

I haven't had a chance to test it, nor have I seen anyone else test it either, but supposedly massless parts now give their mass (and I think drag, too) to the part they're attached to.

[kerbiloid]

About a half of OX-STATs are always shadowed by the ship hull, and another half of them has an angle between their normal vector and the Sun direction, so they actually work 1/3 of their max efficiency.

Gigantor tracks the Sun and it is enough large to be out of the ship shadow.

[tater]

The amount they generate with normal sun incidence should not be highest for the earliest panel, period. It doesn't matter if they don't track. If anything, the EC/m^2 should increase with each improvement (on top of tracking).

[nholzric]

One advantage of the Giganator is that if you align axis of panel rotation to the axis of rotation about the sun - and you are using two, one one each side of the space craft. Then you have guaranteed generation for any time of year. If you're using an array of medium sized guys then twice a year they'll occlude each other, right? So for a guaranteed level of generation for any time of year without maneuvering, Gigantors are most efficient.

...yeah, when I type that out it's a little more tenuous sounding than I expected.

[Paul Kingtiger]

One advantage of the Giganator is that if you align axis of panel rotation to the axis of rotation about the sun......

You can do the same with only a single panel. If you align your craft so the panel extends 'up' or 'down' in reference to the solar system plane they can rotate to follow the sun all year round. The only time you'll be in shadow is if you're orbiting a planet and you do around to the dark side. I used to use this trick with a single OX-4L on my RemoteTech satellites. But again you can do this with the more efficiently OX-4L so there's still no need for the Giginator.

[MacroNova]

I feel like the whole electric system could use a balance pass. Operating a basic probe computer takes about as much electricity as spinning the reaction wheels, sending a data packet with the antenna takes as much as driving a rover 100 yards, etc.

The small panels need to produce a little less energy, but the things you use them for in the early game need to require less energy. As the game progresses, things should need more energy and the player is nudged into using the bigger panels. In .9 and earlier, the only thing that really required significant electricity was Ion engines.