Power

Template:Tocright Power is electrical energy that powers the operation of certain appliances, including workbenches, lights, temperature control devices, automated defenses, and more. Access to power is crucial to survival, especially in late game. The success of a colony often relies upon a fault-tolerant power grid with a reliable power flow that ensures that your appliances are working at all times, especially in emergencies.

Power generators

Wind turbine

Wind turbines generate a variable amount of power directly proportional to the wind speed. Requires no research.

Solar generator

Requires no research.

Fueled generator

Requires no research.

Geothermal generator

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The geothermal generator is a power generator that can be built on top of a steam geyser to convert natural heat into electrical power, providing a constant 3,600W. Steam geysers are randomly generated per map, sometimes close to each other, others scattered towards the edges or center. Colonies are often seen built in their proximity from early days for future benefit.

Ship reactor

Although it is a ship part and and not listed in the Power menu, the ship reactor is perfectly usable as a power generator. It provides 1000W, which is less than the maximum provided by any other power generator, though without their shortcomings or requirements; however, it is prohibitively expensive to build and use in most situations other than late-game. It provides power continually and can be placed on any buildable terrain where its 5x5 structure will fit. It must be researched before it can be built, but does not generate any heat nor require special venting.

Power generator summary

Type	Cost	Size	Max Output (Watts)	Variable Output	Day	Night	Placement
Solar	100 3	4x4	1700	✓	✓	✗	In sunlight
Wind Turbine	100 2	5x2	3000	✓	✓	✓	In open ground
Fueled generator	100 2	2x2	1000	✗	✓	✓	Anywhere
Geothermal	400 8	6x6	3600	✗	✓	✓	On geysers
Ship reactor	300 500 150 25	5x5	1000	✗	✓	✓	Outside (can roof over afterwards)

Power transfers

Power conduit

A power conduit transmits power from generators or batteries to appliances up to six squares away. Conduit doesn't block the placement of other structures and isn't blocked by them, so conduit can be placed wherever it's needed, even in walls, except unsmoothed mountain rocks and ores.

Power switch

Power storage

Batteries

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The battery is an electric device that stores power to use when needed.

Acquisition

s can be crafted, each requiring and Expression error: Unexpected < operator. of work modified by the general labor speed of the crafter.

Summary

Batteries connect directly to the wind turbine and the attached coolers, with no conduits. This power grid will only "Zzztt" if the batteries get rained on.

Batteries automatically charge and discharge when connected to other buildings. Each battery can store 600 Wd (Watt-days) of power at once. 1 Watt-day is equal to powering a 1 W appliance for 24 hours. However, batteries have a 50% efficiency, meaning they take in only half of a grid's excess power. For example, an excess of 200 W for 24 hours will only store 100 Wd. Power is evenly divided between all connected batteries. There is no limit or penalty for power output.

Each tile of battery will also transfer an infinite amount of power through it, as if it were a power conduit. Therefore, electric appliances like standing lamps can connect within 6 tiles of a battery. The battery can't connect in the same way; it requires an adjacent conduit, battery, or power generator to power. A wire will appear when a valid connection is made; you may need to use the Reconnect gizmo on the appliance for it to be powered.

Batteries lose 5 W of stored power per day, even if they aren't connected to anything or are uninstalled in their minified state. Batteries can't be turned off, but a power switch can disconnect them from other buildings.

Health

An installed battery will short-circuit (the Zzzt... event) if left in the rain or snow without a roof. In addition, each battery's storage contributes towards the random short-circuit event, which can happen so long as a power conduit is connected. However, a battery-only grid is immune to the random event.

Like other furniture, batteries are not subject to deterioration, but short-circuits from rain or snow cause damage. Their health does not impact power storage, discharge, or any other function. Temperature also has no effect past fire creation. However, they can explode when reaching a low enough health.

Analysis

Batteries are most useful when using wind turbines or solar panels, both which are highly variable power sources. Using a battery creates a 'cushion', making their power more reliable. For instance, a battery is required to use any sort of solar power at night or during an eclipse. Meanwhile, fueled generators are consistent - they'll burn their fuel at a constant rate, even if it would be wasted. While you could just turn the generator off, colonists need to walk to the generator. Using a battery can help save on both fuel and micromanagement.

Even in colonies that do not use wind or solar energy, batteries are useful to cover spikes in power usage, such as short-circuits, turret arrays, or electric smelters. A battery can cover arbitrarily high power needs, the size of the array only changes for how long that is possible. As an example, an array of 20 mini-turrets and 4 autocannon turrets draws 3200 W of power. Instead of building another geothermal generator, each battery will power this for more than 4 in-game hours.

Uninstalled batteries can be used whenever power needs to be transported. They can be used to power remote deep drills, or even put on a caravan. This allows for electric appliances like mini-turrets to be used far away from your base.

As there is no limit on charge or discharge rate and power is divided evenly between batteries, the minimum number of batteries should be used to achieve the required storage. For every 600Wd is routinely left unfilled that is an additional 5W spent, components consumed by breakdowns, and spent all for no benefit.

Power storage

Separating your batteries behind stone walls will help keep fire from spreading. As you'll rarely need to access a battery itself, stone doors can be safely used for "battery rooms". You may want to keep some additional batteries behind a power switch on a separate network, so they can be brought online in the case of a "Zzzt event". Alternatively, you can uninstall batteries and keep them in a warehouse. Either way, the discharge is negligible.

When powering an emergency array, the battery group should be isolated. There should be 1 power switch to the main power grid, which should be turned on or off when needed. This keeps your power safe from a short circuit. When powering a security array, you can place another, separate switch connected to your turrets, to easily power them on or off.

Unused electric work benches and powered appliances can be turned off to reduce total power usage, via the Designate toggle power order in the work bench menu. This requires a pawn to travel to the appliance and manually turn it off or on. A faster alternative to the Designate Toggle Power order is to build a single piece of power conduit unattached to any power source near the work bench. The Reconnect order from the work bench menu will instantly toggle power connection between the unpowered, solo conduit and your main power grid, saving power usage without requiring work or travel from your pawns.

Efficiency

When calculating power capacity, keep in mind that charge efficiency is only 50%; half of the excess energy is lost. This is particularly relevant when planning a sun lamp setup. The lamp draws 2900 W during the day, and 0 W during the night, for an average demand of 1595 W. However, an average power of 1595 W is not sufficient, and only enough to power the lamp for 6 hours. Simply adding more batteries will not change this; the problem is the lack of energy. In this scenario, adding another solar generator would be enough to power the lamp.

Version history

0.0.245 - Charged batteries now explode while burning.

Architect

Power: Power conduit (Hidden, Waterproof) • Power switch • Wood-fired generator • Chemfuel powered generator • Wind turbine
(research): Battery • Geothermal generator • Solar generator • Watermill generator • Toxifier generator • Bioferrite generator
(uncraftable): Vanometric power cell • Unstable power cell
Related: Ship reactor • Electroharvester

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Appliances

Appliances are structures or buildings that require power but don't transmit it. Most appliances don't require a direct power cable connection, they can be placed up to six squares away from a power cable or power source. When connected to the power grid, it can take a few moments before an appliance turns on.

Managing appliances

Reconnect: Click to force an appliance to reconnect to a conduit line or power source.
Designate toggle power: Click to mark an appliance to be turned on (✔) or off (X) by a colonist set to flick.


Reconnect


Designate toggle power

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Appliances summary

Appliance	Power consumption (in Watts)
Autodoor	50
Electric tailor bench	120
Electric smithy	210
Machining table	350
Electric smelter	700
Electric crematorium	250
Nutrient paste dispenser	200
Standing lamp	75
Sun lamp	2900 during day only
Hydroponics basin	70
Comms console	200
Electric stove	350
Heater	175
Cooler	200
Improvised turret	350
Tube Television	200
Flatscreen Television	150
Megascreen Television	220

Architect

Power: Power conduit (Hidden, Waterproof) • Power switch • Wood-fired generator • Chemfuel powered generator • Wind turbine
(research): Battery • Geothermal generator • Solar generator • Watermill generator • Toxifier generator • Bioferrite generator
(uncraftable): Vanometric power cell • Unstable power cell
Related: Ship reactor • Electroharvester

Power

Contents

Power generators

Wind turbine

Solar generator

Fueled generator

Geothermal generator

Ship reactor

Power generator summary

Power transfers

Power conduit

Power switch

Power storage

Batteries

Acquisition

Summary

Health

Analysis

Power storage

Efficiency

Version history

Appliances

Managing appliances

Appliances summary

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