Solar Panels not Charging Batteries

[Quadkiller]

Hey guys,

So I launched a satellite with 2 OX-STAT Photovoltaic Panels, but i forgot to orient it properly once I reached orbit. So the panels are almost edge on to the sun .

However, one of the panels is still getting 4% sun exposure and "producing energy" (it says energy flow = 0.017). The problem is that the batteries still aren't charging. I tried restarting the game but it didn't help. Any ideas?

[Vanamonde]

It sounds like the vessel is using up the power faster than it is collecting. If you can't rotate the craft to bring the panels more perpendicular to the sun, you could wait for Kerbin's orbit around the sun to bring the sun perpendicular to the panels. That could take quite a while in warp, though. 

Welcome to the forum.

[Superfluous J]

You could right click the probe core and hibernate it. It uses far less power that way and maybe you'll have enough to charge the batteries. Then unhibernate and rotate.

Another option is to send a nearby ship over there and gently bump the satellite to get it rotating.

Edited December 31, 2016 by 5thHorseman
Stupid internet posting the same thing thrice.

[Quadkiller]

11 minutes ago, 5thHorseman said:

You could right click the probe core and hibernate it.

I actually tried this but it said that I don't have a connection to send the command on (I'm using RemoteTec) even though I was above KSC and in the sunlight. Not quite sure why.

 

11 minutes ago, 5thHorseman said:

Another option is to send a nearby ship over there and gently bump the satellite to get it rotating.

I'll give it a try. Thanks!

 

24 minutes ago, Vanamonde said:

you could wait for Kerbin's orbit around the sun to bring the sun perpendicular to the panels.

I'm not sure if this this is going to work. If you call the plane of Kerbin's orbit around the sun the x-y plane, then the solar panels are pointing in the z direction. So I'm pretty sure they'll never point towards the sun.

Edited December 31, 2016 by Quadkiller

[bewing]

IRL, an uncontrolled probe is going to have a slow tumble. There is no way IRL to avoid that. So IRL, if you just wait a few minutes, one of your panels will gain enough solar incidence to get you powered.

In the game, rotation can be completely stopped. So this is physically unrealistic. So this is one of the few times I'm willing to cheat a little. There are several ways to cheat a little, but the easiest and most straightforward is to go into your debug menu, turn on "infinite electricity" for a moment, hit an attitude key to give your ship a little nudge, and then turn off the juice again. Your panel will catch some rays, and you'll be going again.

 

[Superfluous J]

42 minutes ago, Quadkiller said:

I actually tried this but it said that I don't have a connection to send the command on (I'm using RemoteTec) even though I was above KSC and in the sunlight. Not quite sure why.

I don't use RemoteTech but my guess would be you need power to tell a probe to do anything there. Maybe even the antenna doesn't have enough power to receive the command.

One more option I just thought of, if you don't mind bending the rules a bit you could alt-f12, cheats, infinite electricity. Then orient your probe correctly and turn the cheat back off.

[Quadkiller]

2 minutes ago, bewing said:

So IRL, if you just wait a few minutes, one of your panels will gain enough solar incidence to get you powered.

Oh cool, I didn't know that.

I'll probably just use cheats. Thanks everyone!