Solar Panels better light detection

[Drew Kerman]

If anyone's looking for a new mod project, I'd suggest solar panels could use a bit more loving. Mainly, it would be nice to have some power flowing as the sun is cresting the planet's horizon not until its center fully clears it. Additionally, panels could use a bit better detection when occulted by parts, as you can see here a small portion of a long solar array is blocked and the whole array shows up as inactive.

[NoMrBond]

Is this a problem with using point transforms for the sunCatcher instead of planes?

Meaning that if the single 'point' at which the solar panel operates is covered the whole thing doesn't work

Does the solar panel module support planes/meshes as the sunCatcher object?

[Alshain]

If anyone's looking for a new mod project, I'd suggest solar panels could use a bit more loving. Mainly, it would be nice to have some power flowing as the sun is cresting the planet's horizon not until its center fully clears it. Additionally, panels could use a bit better detection when occulted by parts, as you can see here a small portion of a long solar array is blocked and the whole array shows up as inactive.

http://i.imgur.com/evV3o8C.jpg

Here's the thing though. I work with solar panels for a living installing natural gas well controllers that my company builds. Solar panels work exactly like the way they are working in the real world. You see solar panels are composed of a sort of filament that is long and winding and goes from one end to the other. While improved designs have been worked out to reduce the effect very slightly, if you cover even a small tiny amount of that panel with a shadow, it cuts off the rest of the filament behind that point and you severely lose the panel's performance. The closer the shadow is to the connection point, the less you get (as is the case with your battery which is blocking right at the connection point from the looks of it)

I can't tell you how many times I've gone to a field site with power complaints from my customer to find out that the panel was installed under just a sliver of shadow from the christmas tree. The panel barely functions and the whole system dies once the battery runs low. So you say that would be an improvement, but if you want to maintain realism, it's working correctly now.

Edited August 28, 2014 by Alshain

[Drew Kerman]

very interesting - reminds me of christmas lights ;P

Also I think the "sun over the horizon" problem is a game engine issue a mod can't touch. But then again there are some pretty smart people out there...

[NathanKell]

Well, a solar panel rewrite could raycast around the circumference of the sun vs. against its center, so that could be fixed.

Also, Alshain, awesome info! Thanks!

[Justin Kerbice]

Got the same issue too, Alshain your explanation are good but does the KSP stock panels are in fact composed of more than one single "unique" panel (folded planes), each one working independently to the others, so kind of "one filament" per sub-panel, which makes the outer ones may work at better efficiency than the lower one(s) which may be shadowed.

I guess suncatcher is in fact at the bottom so maybe the other panel are just cosmetic and does nothing.

Also, sometimes, the opposite situation happened, panels works well in the shadow of a body !

(a tiny battery can hide what a giant sphere can't !)

[Alshain]

Got the same issue too, Alshain your explanation are good but does the KSP stock panels are in fact composed of more than one single "unique" panel (folded planes), each one working independently to the others, so kind of "one filament" per sub-panel, which makes the outer ones may work at better efficiency than the lower one(s) which may be shadowed.

Well, it depends. Here is a panel I have in my office, this is for our smaller controllers (the big ones on end stand as tall as I do!) You can see the silver filament bridging the solar cells. It travels in a single line around the panel forming a positive and negative connection at the top (the two upper silver bars, covered by the stickers). This is standard design, if the sunlight is broken, it loses most if not all of it's performance because that path is broken.

Like I said there are improved designs. Some panels have two (or more) filament paths where they make two connections that merge into one near the connection point. This way half (or more) the panel can be covered and still get about 50% of the output. Multiple units (or arrays) are typically bridged by wire, so if the unit is an array all the panels getting sun will output normally and only the one covered will fail.

Just a disclaimer I'm not an expert in the subject, I don't work for BP or any solar manufacturer. Everything I'm telling you is experience in my specific field, so there may be other aspects I don't know to consider when looking at space programs.

Edited August 28, 2014 by Alshain