how many solar panels for one accumulator

[Sgt. lollipop]

i tried to search it but it just gave me ratios

[Qosmius]

The ratios are your answer :)

[impetus_maximus]

i wouldn't (and don't) pay attention to ratios. just plop down banks of what you need. if you need more storage, plop down some accumulators. if you need more charging, plop down solar panels.

[Sgt. lollipop]

i just want a direct answer

[piccolo255]

That's exactly what ratios are, they're just easier to use than a decimal number. "Build 21 accumulators for every 25 panels" vs. "build 0.84 accumulators for every solar panel". How exactly do I build 0.84 accumulators? :)

Just divide if you need a decimal; reverse operation (ratio from decimal) needs multiplication and reduction by the largest common divisor.

Anyway, here's the source:

A single solar panel outputs an average of 42 kW over a day and requires 0.84 accumulators to sustain a constant power output through the night.

https://wiki.factorio.com/Solar_panel
And a second one, with calculations and stuff:

The optimal ratio is 0.84 (21:25) accumulators per solar panel

https://wiki.factorio.com/Power_production#Optimal_ratio

[Sgt. lollipop]

21 ac per 25 sp got it thnx

[vts6482]

Originally posted by impetus maximus:

i wouldn't (and don't) pay attention to ratios. just plop down banks of what you need. if you need more storage, plop down some accumulators. if you need more charging, plop down solar panels.

Agreed. The idea of a perfect ratio is predicated on assumptions like:
* No nuclear or solid-fuel power in the mix.
* Constant consumption (a night raid by biters might chew through your power reserves, then the factory).
* Everything is always on (you can turn off power-hungry buildings at night instead).

[impetus_maximus]

Originally posted by vts6482:

Agreed. The idea of a perfect ratio is predicated on assumptions like:
* No nuclear or solid-fuel power in the mix.
* Constant consumption (a night raid by biters might chew through your power reserves, then the factory).
* Everything is always on (you can turn off power-hungry buildings at night instead).

cheers. all good points.

it was pretty funny to see the reaction to people with 'perfect ratio' blueprints when electric coverage for substations(?) changed.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A0OaDnLueqQ

[Sgt. lollipop]

ill just get 5 ac per sp

[vts6482]

Originally posted by impetus maximus:

it was pretty funny to see the reaction to people with 'perfect ratio' blueprints when electric coverage for substations(?) changed.

I missed that but wouldn't surprise me given the angst about belt speed tweaks and the like.

[BitterSwede]

It's a near 1:1 ratio, near enough that it doesn't matter until you have a massive amount of them.
Easiest to remember is for every 23 accumulators, use 25 panels.
But if you want to be on the safe side and don't want to divide your accs in groups of 23, then too many panels is better than too many accs.

An accumulator will drain power when charging, meaning less power goes to your production, so you should only have as many as you need to get through the night. Calculate how many that is (or throw down a bunch until you make it through night time), count how many that is, divide by 23, multiply that number by 25 and you have as many panels as you need.

100 accs? 100/23 = 4.34, 4.34*25 = 108.6, so plop down 109 panels (or 110 to be sure).

[vts6482]

Originally posted by BitterSwede:

An accumulator will drain power when charging, meaning less power goes to your production, so you should only have as many as you need to get through the night.

Not quite. Accumulators have the lowest priority for power, so they only charge with the excess power after all other demands are satisfied. Just look at the power consumption graph for accumulators during a brownout.

[BitterSwede]

Originally posted by vts6482:

Originally posted by BitterSwede:

An accumulator will drain power when charging, meaning less power goes to your production, so you should only have as many as you need to get through the night.

Not quite. Accumulators have the lowest priority for power, so they only charge with the excess power after all other demands are satisfied. Just look at the power consumption graph for accumulators during a brownout.

Ah, yes, upon investigation I see you're correct in that. Disregard my previous post, paint the world in accumulators and get enough power generation to run your base.
I'm probably gonna stick to the ratio still, but that's mostly because I hate the charging noise. Either that, or mod away the noise.

[Lunacy]

Originally posted by Loli-Pop-Chan:

ill just get 5 ac per sp

1:1 is efficient enough, just means you'll have extra spare energy stored if something happens

[AlexMBrennan]

Agreed. The idea of a perfect ratio is predicated on assumptions like:

Not really - the accumulator ratio answers the question equivalent to "how many steam engines do I need to power a 100MW factory?".

If you expect surges in demand (e.g. due to lasers) then that will need worry about that after satisfying the base demand.

(you can turn off power-hungry buildings at night instead).

You can't read the time of day using circuits so sadly that's not possible.

[impetus_maximus]

Originally posted by AlexMBrennan:

You can't read the time of day using circuits so sadly that's not possible.

there are 25000 ticks in a game day. with this timer you can read what 'tick' it is. just keep the accumulator/solar on it's own power network to prevent brownouts drifting the time.

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