What energy sources stack?

[Kris]

I know multiple solar panels stack, but ive tried 2 bioreactors and that didnt stack when it came to efficiancy. it just gave me more total energy.

[Demolition414]

thats all it does, it just increases your total power, you dont gain any power effeincy, just more power

[Amanoob105]

The base only take power from one source at a time, when that one source can keep up with the drain it takes from another.
From what I can tell it will take from them in the order you built them in, so it won't take from the bio's untill the drain is more than the solar's can make.

[Kris]

That isnt true for solar panels. Do they work when i built my base in the jelly shroom cave? Im struggeling with power atm and i only have 1 bioreactor. dont have mats for nuclear yet

[Amanoob105]

Originally posted by Triad:

That isnt true for solar panels. Do they work when i built my base in the jelly shroom cave? Im struggeling with power atm and i only have 1 bioreactor. dont have mats for nuclear yet

If you're in the jelly shroom cave, you should look into making thermal gens, lots and lots of vents down there.

[Eagle_of_Fire]

Define "efficiency"?

There is nothing more efficient than solar. It is free... (???)

[Demolition414]

Originally posted by Amanoob105:

The base only take power from one source at a time, when that one source can keep up with the drain it takes from another.
From what I can tell it will take from them in the order you built them in, so it won't take from the bio's untill the drain is more than the solar's can make.

no this is wrong, ive had a base with 6 solar panels and it used power from panles 4-5 first then from others

[DeFragged]

There is no efficiency stacking. The efficiency you see on solar panels is how much sun they're catching at the time. Even above sea level you'll get maybe 80-90%. To get 100% you'd have to build really high.

All power sources simply add towards a total power pool at best.

[Kris]

alright, i guess ill have to aim for nuclear plant / thermal vents

[Amanoob105]

Originally posted by Davidleblanc20:

Originally posted by Amanoob105:

The base only take power from one source at a time, when that one source can keep up with the drain it takes from another.
From what I can tell it will take from them in the order you built them in, so it won't take from the bio's untill the drain is more than the solar's can make.

no this is wrong, ive had a base with 6 solar panels and it used power from panles 4-5 first then from others

My reasoning come from this accidental experiment.

When I first make my base I had, in oder built; one solar pannel, two bioreactors and one thermal.
The base would always be emptying both the bioractors for power.

During an incident where where I had to take apart the rooms with the bioreactors (they where in the way of some platforms I wished to build above them) all that was left powering the base was the thermal.

Once all back to gether the power for the base came from, again in order of when they were built (or at least not taken apart from the first time with the thermal); One thermal, four solar pannels, two bioreactors and later one nuclear reactor.

After that although the first bioreactor would see some drain it was only when something in the base was making a lot of drain like high fabricator use and/or a newly docked seamoth.
While the second bio showed no sign of use until I added in a pair of water filters.

The nuclear reactor has so far after many in game weeks still not used up it's first four rods.

This is why I say that the base will only take from one power source at a time and in the order that they are built in.
I will admit that I did not think the look at what order the solar pannels where drining in.

[DonJuanDoja]

All I can say is the Better Power Info mod is pretty awesome and it's helping me figure out how the power works in the game.

It does seem to steal from one source first, but if it depletes it, just moves to the next, and so on. Not sure about Order as it seems somewhat random in some cases.

My goal was to make sure all power came from thermal first, then BIO, then Nuclear. I'm close but it likes to take from Nuclear before BIO a lot. Swap thermal for solar on shallow bases.

Also it tells you how much power it's creating and for example my 6 thermals all have different #s... due to diff temps. I needed 6 to cover the max power usage in that base with 4 purifiers and other stuff... now it doesn't take from Nuke or BIO until I really start charging a lot of stuff. Still takes from Nuke more first which I really want to figure out.

[theresejesu]

Originally posted by Triad:

alright, i guess ill have to aim for nuclear plant / thermal vents

Are you looking for faster energy production?

I have a thermal reactor at my base in the shallows by the life pod. You don't need a vent. How much energy are you needing?

2 solar panels and the theromoreactor seem to be sufficient. I made 2 bioreactors before I had the thermoreactor, and now they seem completely unnecessary unless I am charging/using a bunch of stuff, and it's pretty easy to fire them up.

[Demolition414]

Betterpowerinfo mod
https://www.nexusmods.com/subnautica/mods/18