Generating power?

[Slice]

The whole game so far I am just busy with putting wood/biomass inside my power generators. No fun. What do I need to research for something like solar panels or something so I don't have to keep filling these things for power. Thanks

[Mansen]

Once you've reached the solid biomass, Coal is your next big step.

It used to be earlier but has been pushed higher up in the Tier unlocks - and it now needs water as well. It's a prety big step.

Solar/Wind/Water power is mods only for the time being.

[Suzaku]

Complete the first objective of the space elevator to unlock tiers 3/4 and complete the coal power milestone. Coal generators use coal (mined with a miner), and water (gathered with a water extractor) to generate endless automated power.

Remember to bring the coal to water, since it's easier to build belts to move coal than it is to build pipes for the water.

And for now, make an assembly line for biofuel. 1 container for wood, 1 for leaves. Have each container connect to a constructor to make biomass. Have the biomass merge into a container and then connect that to another constructor to make solid biofuel. This semi-automates the process so you spend less time gathering fuel for your bioburners.

[ho84]

Biofuel burns much longer so dont feed leaves and wood if you can

If you cant have coal yet, get a chain saw first, save a lot of time

[archmag]

First thing is to get a chainsaw. It is in one of the early unlocks. It lets you get wood and leafs much faster (it clears large area around the place where you use it and allows you to cut wood which can be used to generate a lot of solid biomass). If I remember correctly this unlock also unlocks solid biomass.

Then create a small production line for solid biomass. I used container->constructor->constructor->container and switched first constructor between Biomass (Wood) and Biomass (Leafs) as needed after feeding required resource into the first container after previous resource runs out. Separate containers and constructors for them as Suzaku mentioned are also an option. I kept it on separate power line so that I don't have to do manual work in case one of the main generators runs out of resources. The separate biomass generator which was dedicated to this line was barely eating any resources.

After that research Coal and start exploring. You can find coal deposits by using scanner (V button) but you also need to find some lakes. I hope you already have cement production and research foundations as it is likely you will need some to reach the deposites. Coal will most probably be guarded by two spitters (enemies that spit fireballs at you) so be careful when setting up mining. After you discover coal and lake make a large platform near the lake so you can place several coal generators there, use conveyors to move coal to the lake and set up your automated energy production.

After that you can either use slug power cells to boost power production or build more of those generators. Later slug power cells can be used in miners instead but initially when you don't use miners even at 100% and don't have better conveyor belts that can exploit all their increased production it is fine to use power cells in generators. One fully boosted generator produces 150W of electricity and consumes 1 coal per 2 seconds or 30 coal in a minute. Unboosted it is 15 coal in a minute for 75W. Conveyor mk1 transfers 60 coal in a minute so if you use one line you can feed either 2 fully boosted generators or 4 unboosted for the same result (you will need slightly more water and a lot more free space if you decide to use 4).

[Druinthor]

two boxes. one for wood one for leaves. feeds in to two constructors for biomass. then in to one single constructor for biofuel. Yes it is annoying until you get into coal but then it adds more complexity with water. It is a very busy game.

[esotericist]

Since I didn't see anyone else mention this specific bit, the reason you want biofuel while you're still in the biomass burner stage is it runs a LOT longer per unit than using the earlier tiers (plants directly, or even biomass), and still stacks to 200, so you don't have to touch your generators nearly as often.

edit: as is often the case, immediately after posting i find a post that covers what i thought didn't get said. o wellz

[Tankfriend]

Alternatively, you can also hunt hogs and spitters for their carapace / organs. Using the M.A.M. you can research them and unlock turning them into biomass. It's more time consuming at the start to get the research done, *but* they respawn (plants don't), and each piece of carapace / organ is turned into ridiculous amounts of biomass.

[Aeekto]

Originally posted by Slice:

The whole game so far I am just busy with putting wood/biomass inside my power generators. No fun. What do I need to research for something like solar panels or something so I don't have to keep filling these things for power. Thanks

Wood/biomass is the wrong approach. it burns too fast for having huge production lines... it's just to start out for 1-2 production lines in your first playhour.
Research "solid biomass" and setup the follwing:

"storage -> constructor (wood to biomass) -> constructor (biomass to solid biomass) -> storage"

Just place all your wood into it and let it craft that stuff (doing it manual takes too long) while you do other stuff like exploring, expanding, etc.

I'm running 10 biomassgenerator in early game and only have to fill them up once every ~3 hours (basicly once each playsession).
That's very easy to handle until you reach coal.

[sansee]

Even processing cadaver/grass/wood into biomass is WAY better (and a must) than just putting them strraight in after picking them up from the ground. At least until you have access to solid biofuel.

[Slice]

Thanks guys. I can make coal now so let's hope this annoying part of the game is over.

[Aeekto]

Originally posted by archmag:

After that you can either use slug power cells to boost power production.

Never ever do this!
It's wasting too much ressources and isn't efficient.
A power generator running at 250% generates only 200% power while burning ressources for 250%.
If you need more power "only" build new generators!

Use slugs for your mines first once you reach T3 belts (earlier it's a waste too since the belts wont transport as much as you mine) and later for some other buildings for efficiency (but only if your mines are at max)

[esotericist]

Originally posted by Aeekto:

A power generator running at 250% generates only 200% power while burning ressources for 250%.

while the rest of what you said appears correct, as far as I can tell from research a power generator always has a fixed ratio for "amount of fuel consumed" versus "amount of power produced". so while it is true that a generator is probably the wrong place to use slugs, it does not seem to be true that you have an actual efficiency loss in the generator.

[CrazyOdd]

Originally posted by Aeekto:

Never ever do this!
It's wasting too much ressources and isn't efficient.
A power generator running at 250% generates only 200% power while burning ressources for 250%.
If you need more power "only" build new generators!

There are reasons to OC the power generators, like when you need a short term boost, to get the power back (idle machines only need power for a few sec) or to kickstart a new power plant.

[CrazyOdd]

Originally posted by esotericist:

Originally posted by Aeekto:

A power generator running at 250% generates only 200% power while burning ressources for 250%.

while the rest of what you said appears correct, as far as I can tell from research a power generator always has a fixed ratio for "amount of fuel consumed" versus "amount of power produced". so while it is true that a generator is probably the wrong place to use slugs, it does not seem to be true that you have an actual efficiency loss in the generator.

For normal machines, you scale production linear while power usage dont. As for power generation, its 250% production use for 200% power generation.

[esotericist]

Originally posted by CrazyOdd:

Originally posted by esotericist:

while the rest of what you said appears correct, as far as I can tell from research a power generator always has a fixed ratio for "amount of fuel consumed" versus "amount of power produced". so while it is true that a generator is probably the wrong place to use slugs, it does not seem to be true that you have an actual efficiency loss in the generator.

For normal machines, you scale production linear while power usage dont. As for power generation, its 250% production use for 200% power.

I'm aware it's 200% power at maximum dialing, but all of the research I've seen[satisfactory.gamepedia.com] suggests the amount of power you get per fuel is fixed.

so the display reads "250%", and it's producing approximately "200%", but it is not actually eating 250% fuel.