Solar Panel

Sun-tracking generators that pool with their neighbours into one big solar array. Comes in three tiers — Tier 1 is a single block; Tier 2 and Tier 3 are 2×2 and 3×3 multiblocks that you place from a single item.

Obtaining#

Tier 1 (shaped): a glass deck over quartz/copper cells on a nerosteel housing —

G G G
Q C Q
N N N

G = Glass · Q = Xertz Quartz · C = Copper Ingot · N = Nerosteel Ingot

Tier 2 — four Tier 1 panels around a Block of Nerosium:

. P .
P N P
. P .

P = Tier 1 Solar Panel · N = Block of Nerosium

Tier 3 — four Tier 2 panels around a Block of Gold:

. Q .
Q G Q
. Q .

Q = Tier 2 Solar Panel · G = Block of Gold

Each tier folds the previous panel into its recipe, so upgrading reuses what you already built.

How it works#

• Sunlight in, FE out. Output follows the sun: full at noon, tapering to nothing at night.

  In normal dimensions the panel needs a clear view of the sky — anything solid directly above it stops generation.

• Weather: there is no fixed rain or thunder penalty. Output follows how dark the sky is:

  output × (10 − sky darkness) / 10. Rain and storms darken the sky, so output drops with them.

• Nerospace planets (Greenxertz, Cindara, Glacira, Luna, Mars and Nyxara) follow the planet's own day: a panel

  peaks at that planet's noon, dips at night, on Cindara dims during the eclipse and on Mars falls during a dust storm. Nyxara's sun never moves, so a panel there gives a steady ×2.04. Over a full planet day every planet gives at least the old ×2 rate on average (the peaks are higher to make up for the nights), so bases that run at night need a battery. The Orbital Station (and founded stations) stays a constant ×2. Panels do not need a view of the sky on a planet. Server owners can restore the old constant ×2 with solar.clockDriven=false. Solar is the natural off-world power source.

• Output and storage scale by tier (all values × the energyRateMultiplier config). The buffer

  never accepts a push from outside.

• Auto-push: panels push power into any machine or Battery that touches them.

Each higher tier is stronger per area than tiling the lower one, and carries a much bigger buffer.

Multiblocks (Tier 2 & 3)#

• A Tier 2 / Tier 3 panel is a single item that fills its whole N×N footprint when placed — you need

  that flat area clear (it won't place into an obstructed footprint).

• It behaves as one unit: one big tilting deck, one pooled buffer, energy on every outer face.

• Breaking any cell returns the whole panel as one item — no duplication, and you get your panel

  back wherever you mined it.

Arrays#

• Place same-tier units next to each other and they automatically merge into one array: the

  array's storage is the sum of every unit's buffer and its generation the sum of every unit's output. Build wider for more of both — arrays can be almost any size.

• Every side is an output port. A Universal Pipe (energy layer) — or any machine/Battery — touching

  any face pulls from the shared array pool, so one pipe drains the whole array.

• Tiers never mix. A Tier 1 array and a Tier 2 array placed side by side stay separate; only units

  of the same tier pool together.

Appearance#

The tiers are visibly distinct — Tier 1 has a green accent and pivots on a T-pole, tracking the sun east-to-west; Tier 2 (nerosium magenta) and Tier 3 (gold) are flat N×N arrays whose decks tilt up to face the sky by day and fold flat onto their housings at night. All panels read the same world time, so a field of them moves in lockstep.

Details#

• IDs: nerospace:solar_panel (Tier 1) / nerospace:solar_panel_t2 / nerospace:solar_panel_t3
• Tool: Tier 1 needs an iron pickaxe; Tier 2 and Tier 3 need any pickaxe.
• Tier 1 drops itself; Tier 2/3 return one item for the whole multiblock when any cell is broken.
• Emits a comparator signal from the array's charge.
• Config: energyRateMultiplier (scales both output and storage). See Configuration.