Inverse square solar power? Solar panels rebalanced?

[Renegrade]

..I'm going to bloody well run out of things to complain about at this rate.

Color me impressed.

(although I haven't actually run figures for the panels yet)

[MalfunctionM1Ke]

Now we only need them to accumulate dust when used in Atmospheres

[Renegrade]

Now we only need them to accumulate dust when used in Atmospheres

Oh hey - that could be a new skill for engineers. "Dust panel" hehe.

[Guest]

woot! Great work, Squad! This update is pretty damn awesome. I <3 stock (for once).

[UmbralRaptor]

[table=width: 500, class: grid]

[tr]

[td]Part[/td]

[td]Power[/td]

[td]Mass[/td]

[td]Power/Mass[/td]

[/tr]

[tr]

[td]OX-STAT[/td]

[td]0.35[/td]

[td]0.005[/td]

[td]70[/td]

[/tr]

[tr]

[td]OX-4L/W[/td]

[td]1.64[/td]

[td]0.0175[/td]

[td]93.714[/td]

[/tr]

[tr]

[td]SP-L/W[/td]

[td]1.64[/td]

[td]0.025[/td]

[td]65.6[/td]

[/tr]

[tr]

[td]Gigantor[/td]

[td]24.4[/td]

[td]0.3[/td]

[td]81.333[/td]

[/tr]

[tr]

[td]PB-NUK[/td]

[td]0.75[/td]

[td]0.08[/td]

[td]9.375[/td]

[/tr]

[/table]

Uh, as far as panel performance goes, a pair of gigantors should be able to run an ion engine out to Duna. You'll need to get spammy (5-6) OX-4s to run an ion engine full out at Kerbin.

[LostOblivion]

This makes fuel cells and especially the RTG really useful. :-) Thanks!

[KotDemopan]

This makes the RTG really useful. :-) Thanks!

Was it not before?

I use it in almost every single one of my planes and rovers/cars.

[WafflesToo]

woot! Great work, Squad! This update is pretty damn awesome. I <3 stock (for once).

I know it! This is the first update that doesn't have me scurrying to the mod-list to get it up to 'feature complete' status for me. :heart:

[Archgeek]

Aren't OX-STATs still physicsless, giving them a power/mass ratio of infinity, thus limiting them mainly by surface area and part count?

[WafflesToo]

Aren't OX-STATs still physicsless, giving them a power/mass ratio of infinity, thus limiting them mainly by surface area and part count?

Physicsless parts now add mass to the parent unit.

[monstah]

Oh hey - that could be a new skill for engineers. "Dust panel" hehe.

Might have been a joke (can't tell), but I think that's awesome!

[MacroNova]

Oh hey - that could be a new skill for engineers. "Dust panel" hehe.

"Hey Jeb, we need you to dust off the rover's solar panel when you get a chance."

"WHAT? I never trained for that!"

[Renegrade]

Uh, as far as panel performance goes, a pair of gigantors should be able to run an ion engine out to Duna. You'll need to get spammy (5-6) OX-4s to run an ion engine full out at Kerbin.

Thanks for making that table

Was it not before?

I use it in almost every single one of my planes and rovers/cars.

For rovers and fixed installation, RTGs can be useful (especially as those two things aren't too mass-sensitive and can spend a LOOONG time in the dark), but for a spacecraft in old stock, you were much better served by a battery/solar arrangement (especially with #lolmassless batteries and solar) performance-wise.

woot! Great work, Squad! This update is pretty damn awesome. I <3 stock (for once).

Yes sir!

Physicsless parts now add mass to the parent unit.

Tests seem to support that so far. I haven't seen a vacuum test yet though (just startin' my daily rounds now though so there might be confirmation already.. If not , I'll get off my lazy duff and test it myself)

Might have been a joke (can't tell), but I think that's awesome!

It's funny-serious. I've always felt that the kerbals need more to do on EVA, and various classes need more functions. Having a dust panel function would definitely help the engineer's capabilities. I'm not fully up to date on 1.0 engineer skills (I don't think I've even flown any of my engineers except on training runs), but in 0.90, it was basically just 'repack chute' for the most part...and even that was only a safety feature.

[UmbralRaptor]

Was it not before?

I use it in almost every single one of my planes and rovers/cars.

Can get a functional craft != best choice

Previously, panels were 50% effective at Jool, and >1/3 effective at Eeloo's apoapsis!

(and in the case of the OX-STAT and OX-4L/W had higher base power)