What's the advantage to using solar panels?

[Forblaze]

Solar panels require research to unlock, use way more resources to build, produce significantly less power, use significantly more room, and require you to store power to keep the lights on at night. I just don't really see myself in a position where coal will be so rare that I want to dump all of the resources required to get a workable solar grid up and running. Is there something about solar that I'm missing?

[Venatorium]

it produces little to no pollution, and are actuallyquite cheap once you get them automated

[Lawlzer]

Heh, the only thing is it doesn't consume coal. place a solar panel, that's a little bit of coal you'll never have to use /hour lol

[Blank]

I like to use them for backup power in case my fuel runs out without me noticing

[NimrodAbsolution⁧⁧98]

Originally posted by Forblaze:

Solar panels require research to unlock

So does 99% of the game

Originally posted by Forblaze:

use way more resources to build

But use infinitely less resources to run

Originally posted by Forblaze:

use significantly more room

Which is infinite in most worlds

Originally posted by Forblaze:

and require you to store power to keep the lights on at night

Steam requires you to burn resources 24/7 unless you cut the power entirely (or install a tree farm mod)

Originally posted by Forblaze:

I just don't really see myself in a position where coal will be so rare

Some people use low resource worlds for extra challenge
But all resources are technically infinite if you don't limit the map, solar just takes waay less effort in the long run

[chaotix14]

Coal may not be rare, but you may want to ease back on the pollution, also you may not want to waste it on power when you can use it as resources for modules and other stuff you will really want en masse(red circuits tend to go really fast). Not to mention that constantly scaling up the coal mining(/solid fuel production) because of your ever increasing power needs becomes quite a hassle(once you hit modules power demands skyrocket).
It's fire and forget when you get to the construction robots, you just plonk down a blueprint make sure it has it's supplies(or even just make sure the materials get made and brought into that roboport grid eventually) and presto another x MW of power that'll never need any thought from your side(unlike with steam where you'll always need to keep the fuel supply in mind).
Less processor intensive, this is important for you all mega base builders. Unlike steam where every engine needs to be calculated sepperately(because temperature and water supplies may differ) solar and accumulators are calculated per power grid.

[onebit]

Solar isn't needed to launch the rocket. In fact, it'll take longer.

Solar is for long running factories that use a lot of power. Once there is enough solar the factory can have power forever and most coal can be converted to plastic.

[profitX10]

Solar panels are like fiber in your diet... Yeah, you can manage without, but things can be a lot easier with them.

[KayDawg13]

I prefer solar for 2 reasons; my solar farms can be quite large but I can place them wherever I want and don't need to worry about running the fuel and water lines to them so they are much easier to work with, and I'd much rather use the coal to make plastic. same for solid fuel, I'd rather not spend the oil for power.

[TTV HellBoundLycan]

when you start mass-producing Plastics, TnT, cannon shells and such those beauties will help a LOT. Basically what happens is you can connect solar arrays to generators which hold energy. You make enough to "surplus" over the day, and storage space to last overnight and you'll actually be better off pollution wise by a metric ****-ton. Problem is getting the process started, but when you're mass producing Plastic and TnT it's relatively easy to make solar panels :)

[AlexMBrennan]

Problem is getting the process started

I can't say that I share that experience - at first, you can just place down any solar panels you make to reduce steam generator load during the day. Once you have enough solar panels to run your factory during the day you can install a switch to toggle the steam turbines when accumulators are full, and start placing accumulators. Continue until steam turbines stay idle 24/7

[Lawlzer]

Solar panels lag less, and cheaper unless you make a megabase. If you just want to beat the game, don't use solar. If you're going for a megabase, use solar panels, then it's cheaper, and the least laggy solution :P

[Zefnoly]

Originally posted by AC Lawlzer:

Solar panels lag less, and cheaper unless you make a megabase. If you just want to beat the game, don't use solar. If you're going for a megabase, use solar panels, then it's cheaper, and the least laggy solution :P

I switch to solar panels as fast it is possible and find it easy, cheap and reliable (my opinion) and had no problems beating the game any of the times. Actually the gameplay went much easier after each time i stopped using boilers because my pollution disappeared almost completely everytime I did almost removing all attacks. And my resourse needs decreased greatly. It gets so much easier when you dont need to think about getting enough coal and everything. And if power suddenly run out because of loss of resourses, you are almost frelled everytime. If you expand to much with solar, your biggest fear is just your facilitiy going dark for a few sec/mins at night. And the solution then is just turning off certain parts of your facility. (it means, if some resourses gets depleeted, you are not frelled because you need to use another 10min to locate a new coal/oil spot and build the transportation to it.)

Originally posted by SkyZ:

it produces little to no pollution, and are actuallyquite cheap once you get them automated

The only thing that pollutes about them is the machines making them. Running them doesn't pollute anything at all. You can build them along the batteries wherever you want without protection and the aliens wont give a frell about them. In all/most my games they just walk through and only attack if they cant get through them or get stuck. In my latest designs they cant really get stuck and walk nicely through.

Also as fast you get robots and automate everything you need to expand, you can easily make more. I have a blueprint I found on the wiki which got around 90% effience on solar panel/accumulator placement on the room they use. I just place this blueprints and let my drones build. Takes me no time and i can leave the process and let them work on their own.
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=666989179

[Lawlzer]

Originally posted by Zefnoly:

Originally posted by AC Lawlzer:

Solar panels lag less, and cheaper unless you make a megabase. If you just want to beat the game, don't use solar. If you're going for a megabase, use solar panels, then it's cheaper, and the least laggy solution :P

I switch to solar panels as fast it is possible and find it easy, cheap and reliable (my opinion) and had no problems beating the game any of the times. Actually the gameplay went much easier after each time i stopped using boilers because my pollution disappeared almost completely everytime I did almost removing all attacks. And my resourse needs decreased greatly. It gets so much easier when you dont need to think about getting enough coal and everything. And if power suddenly run out because of loss of resourses, you are almost frelled everytime. If you expand to much with solar, your biggest fear is just your facilitiy going dark for a few sec/mins at night. And the solution then is just turning off certain parts of your facility. (it means, if some resourses gets depleeted, you are not frelled because you need to use another 10min to locate a new coal/oil spot and build the transportation to it.)

Originally posted by SkyZ:

it produces little to no pollution, and are actuallyquite cheap once you get them automated

The only thing that pollutes about them is the machines making them. Running them doesn't pollute anything at all. You can build them along the batteries wherever you want without protection and the aliens wont give a frell about them. In all/most my games they just walk through and only attack if they cant get through them or get stuck. In my latest designs they cant really get stuck and walk nicely through.

Also as fast you get robots and automate everything you need to expand, you can easily make more. I have a blueprint I found on the wiki which got around 90% effience on solar panel/accumulator placement on the room they use. I just place this blueprints and let my drones build. Takes me no time and i can leave the process and let them work on their own.
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=666989179

I use a 100% perfect design, and a roboport in the middle (so it's perfectly tileable, up to 2 spaces away)

[Zefnoly]

Originally posted by AC Lawlzer:

Originally posted by Zefnoly:

I switch to solar panels as fast it is possible and find it easy, cheap and reliable (my opinion) and had no problems beating the game any of the times. Actually the gameplay went much easier after each time i stopped using boilers because my pollution disappeared almost completely everytime I did almost removing all attacks. And my resourse needs decreased greatly. It gets so much easier when you dont need to think about getting enough coal and everything. And if power suddenly run out because of loss of resourses, you are almost frelled everytime. If you expand to much with solar, your biggest fear is just your facilitiy going dark for a few sec/mins at night. And the solution then is just turning off certain parts of your facility. (it means, if some resourses gets depleeted, you are not frelled because you need to use another 10min to locate a new coal/oil spot and build the transportation to it.)




The only thing that pollutes about them is the machines making them. Running them doesn't pollute anything at all. You can build them along the batteries wherever you want without protection and the aliens wont give a frell about them. In all/most my games they just walk through and only attack if they cant get through them or get stuck. In my latest designs they cant really get stuck and walk nicely through.

Also as fast you get robots and automate everything you need to expand, you can easily make more. I have a blueprint I found on the wiki which got around 90% effience on solar panel/accumulator placement on the room they use. I just place this blueprints and let my drones build. Takes me no time and i can leave the process and let them work on their own.
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=666989179

I use a 100% perfect design, and a roboport in the middle (so it's perfectly tileable, up to 2 spaces away)

Share blueprint? Mine should also be around 100% as i know...

[Varenvel The Festive Dinosaur]

Advantages:
-uses no coal and no recources once setup
-does not need acces to water
-free power once its setup
-no polution
-easy to blueprint(does not need any recources to be supplied to)

Disadvantages
-Needs bunch of reserch
-Solar panels need a lot recources , and both panels and acumulators need oil , who with current generation of oil can be sometimes a bit tricky to get to
-Needs lots of space , meaning you need good defences , preferably with construction robots who helped lay you defense line covering your entire base
-inefficient when comes to space/power ratio