How does electricity work?

[Admiral Kobi]

I have a large wind turbine up and then assume you put down a transformer within its radius to power any buildings within the transformers radius? Same with battery rack, I assume you need to have it within the radius of a wind turbine?

At the end of the day I'm not sure how to create a reasonable electric grid when I am now getting into the deep harvesters that a decent range away from each other. Ideas?

[AirDoc]

As someone who just started playing the game, this is a helpful description of the power system.

[Remmie]

A small tip:

I usually build a powerfarm where i group together batteries and large windturbines and protect them with two lightning rods. Place the entire farm outside the city away from pollution.
This will provide enough power for everything.

Then you can just place a small transformer near buildings and a small windturbine where needed. It doesn't matter if the local turbine actually produces too little energy. This saves you bothering with large energy buildings in your towncenter.

At this point lightning rods are way to big, expensive and cover a small area for an event that rarely happens. Do not build them until your industry is up and running, only then you might want to protect your batteries and mining facilities.

[jbradhicks]

iceflake_joanna eredeti hozzászólása:

Now you'll need an energy source for the transformer. Now you can either build another wind turbine here, or you can build a battery rack next to the transformer. Either will work. Or if you just noticed, that you have a functioning transformer pretty close, you can build another transformer in the middle, so that the work areas of the two are both overlapping with the one in the middle - creating a grid. Any one of these will make the transformer function and power your sawmill so that you can get some of those planks you really need :)

Hope this cleared it out even more :)

VERY much so, thank you, that was what confused me -- I didn't realize you included battery racks and other powered transformers as being "energy producers," I thought that only meant solar panels and wind turbines. My bad!

[nhal]

Thank you for clarifying : )

[mike]

Not just this game, but many others have power models that defy NEC and NESC standards...

The transformers are the size of a house. There is a transformer in my backyard that takes care of my whole neighborhood, and it fits under the bush that has grown over it. They work like in Tropico.

The lightning rod is the size of a house.

Why do I need a power producer or battery next to every transformer? These are constantly getting contaminated by the underground mines...

Power lines, or pretend like there are power lines from transformer to transformer... Or, let me wire up power directly.

Similar with plumbing. I place a kitchen, and then a water tower next to it. Then, I have to wait for whatever triggers that new water tower to actually get water in it. Very frustrating.

[Zack Wester]

can some one post a few screenshot espeicaly on the range for a transformer to connect to another transformer for the purpuse of been a energy producers.

[mike]

Zack Wester eredeti hozzászólása:

can some one post a few screenshot espeicaly on the range for a transformer to connect to another transformer for the purpuse of been a energy producers.

They don't connect to each other.
I wouldn't complain if anything in range of a transformer could be powered, but having to have an energy source in that same range is at first confusing, then annoying, then perplexing, then back to annoying.

[jojobe]

I am not a fan of the new electric system at all. the old way was better.

[Zack Wester]

mike eredeti hozzászólása:

Zack Wester eredeti hozzászólása:

can some one post a few screenshot espeicaly on the range for a transformer to connect to another transformer for the purpuse of been a energy producers.

They don't connect to each other.
I wouldn't complain if anything in range of a transformer could be powered, but having to have an energy source in that same range is at first confusing, then annoying, then perplexing, then back to annoying.

your sure I swear I got a transformer that got power through another transformer.
as i removed its solar panel and the rediator is still powerd.

[mike]

Zack Wester eredeti hozzászólása:

mike eredeti hozzászólása:

your sure I swear I got a transformer that got power through another transformer.
as i removed its solar panel and the rediator is still powerd.

Maybe they changed it?

[iceflake_joanna]

mike eredeti hozzászólása:

Zack Wester eredeti hozzászólása:

can some one post a few screenshot espeicaly on the range for a transformer to connect to another transformer for the purpuse of been a energy producers.

They don't connect to each other.
I wouldn't complain if anything in range of a transformer could be powered, but having to have an energy source in that same range is at first confusing, then annoying, then perplexing, then back to annoying.

Heya! They do indeed connect - if you build two transformers in a way that their work areas connect - even just a bit - they will provide energy to each other. So only one of them needs to have the power producer or storage.

This has worked this way since we changed the energy system quite a while ago (back in update 10 I believe).

[Zack Wester]

iceflake_joanna eredeti hozzászólása:

mike eredeti hozzászólása:

They don't connect to each other.
I wouldn't complain if anything in range of a transformer could be powered, but having to have an energy source in that same range is at first confusing, then annoying, then perplexing, then back to annoying.

Heya! They do indeed connect - if you build two transformers in a way that their work areas connect - even just a bit - they will provide energy to each other. So only one of them needs to have the power producer or storage.

This has worked this way since we changed the energy system quite a while ago (back in update 10 I believe).

mind putting in a line that tells that a transformer is close enough connected to another transformer to send power forward.

[iceflake_joanna]

You should be able to see the work areas - as long as they overlap, even just a bit, it is enough. We do know this is not enough and we are working on a better visualization of this but for now, the work areas are the ones to watch!

[Zack Wester]

oh just the work area I thought the transformers them self needed to be inside like any other building. (this at least dubbles the range).

[marcelvdpol]

iceflake_joanna eredeti hozzászólása:

So windmills and solar panels etc, can be anywhere in your colony. They will always produce energy that can be used by anything in your colony - they do not need to be connected to anything to work.

I'll try and put it in another way:

Energy consumers (sawmill, bore well, anything that requires energy to work) needs to be inside the work area of a functioning transformer to work.

Transformers must have an energy source inside their work area to function. This energy source can but doesn't have to be an energy producer. So you can build a wind turbine next to it and the transformer will work. But it doesn't have to be this, it can also be the battery rack (an energy storage) OR the work area of another transformer, that has an energy source.

Battery racks always must be inside the work area of a transformer to work. Otherwise they are just decorations, not doing anything.

And again, as I mentioned above, the energy producers can be placed anywhere at all, they will always work and produce energy.


So for example, let's say you need to power your sawmill. You already have a wind turbine in the bottom left corner, ready and running and producing energy. You place your sawmill in the middle of the colony, next to some nicely wooded area. Then you place a transformer next to it, so that it can be powered.

Now you'll need an energy source for the transformer. Now you can either build another wind turbine here, or you can build a battery rack next to the transformer. Either will work. Or if you just noticed, that you have a functioning transformer pretty close, you can build another transformer in the middle, so that the work areas of the two are both overlapping with the one in the middle - creating a grid. Any one of these will make the transformer function and power your sawmill so that you can get some of those planks you really need :)

Hope this cleared it out even more :)

Your explanation makes NO SENSE WHATSOEVER. You first say that Power Producers don't need to be in the area of a Transformer. THEN you give an example where you EXPLICITLY construct a Power Producer in the Area of a Transformer to supply Power to a Saw Mill. So to me these two statements are a complete contradiction. Either Power Producers (Solar Panels, Wind Turbines) need to be in the service area of a Transformer OR not. Consumers most certainly need to be in the area of a Transformer but somehow that simply isn't enough?

Practically, I have a Saw Mill somewhere and some Wind Turbines quite a large distance away. How to I make sure that the Saw Mill gets supplied with Power? I understand that I need to build a Transformer with the Saw Mill in its service area, but then it still doesn't work for some reason. Why? What is wrong with that setup? Why doesn't the Power Production reach the Saw Mill? Do I need to put Transformers next to the Wind Turbines?

So does it need to be this:
Wind Turbines .... Lots of Space with nothing .... Transformer ... Saw Mill.
OR
Wind Turbines ... Transformer ... Lots of Space with nothing ... Transformer ... Saw Mill.
OR
Wind Turbines ... Transformer ... Lots of Space with overlapping Transformers ... Transformer ... Saw Mill.

Could you please (please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please) make the way Power works in this game more intuitive (given the huge amount of questions as well as several Dev answers which only add to the confusion)? The current setup is confusing and makes no sense. For example, simply make it work the way Water works.
Water Well, Bore Well, Water Pump -> (Large) Wind Turbines, (Large) Solar Panels
(Large) Clean Water Storage -> (Large) Battery Rack
(Large) Water Tower -> (Large) Transformer
Water Consuming Building -> Energy Consuming Building

Another way to improve this system is to allow all Transformers to be connected to each other ALL THE TIME, no matter the distance (INCLUDE this in the description of the Transformer), BUT require that Power Producers (Wind Turbine, Solar Panels) as well as Consumers (Saw Mill, Battery Rack etc) always be in the service area of a Transformer.

The way I think about these things is as follows: how are the following concepts linked together and does the linking together make sense? Production Sources, Consumption Sources, Transport, Storage. And I have to say that for Power the way they are linked together makes no sense whatsoever.

PS: In real life, the chain works like this:
Wind Turbines ... Transformer ... Network of high-voltage cables ... Transformer ... Network of low-voltage cables ... Transformer ... Saw Mill.
Solar Panels ... Transformer ... Network of low-voltage cables ... Transformer ... Network of high-voltage cables ... Transformer ... Network of low-voltage cables ... Transformer ... Saw Mill.


PPS: for some interesting real-life reading, please see this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_of_the_currents