Solar Panel

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.

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

• Weather cuts output: rain/snow drops it to ~40%, a thunderstorm to ~25%.

• Airless dimensions (Orbital Station, Greenxertz, Cindara, Glacira, founded stations) have a

  permanent sun, so panels there run at full and earn a ×2 bonus — solar is the natural off-world power source.

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

  extract-only — it never accepts a push.

Tier	Footprint	Output @ noon	Storage
Tier 1	1×1	20 FE/t	50,000 FE
Tier 2	2×2	100 FE/t	250,000 FE
Tier 3	3×3	400 FE/t	1,000,000 FE

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_t1 / _t2 / _t3 · Tool: pickaxe, iron tier
• 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.