quick question about power generators.

[rman88]

Hey, just wondering. Do they consume fuel based on the need or at a constant rate? Trying to be a bit more conservative with my fuel right now. But i cant really tell if the 2 solar panels i have are helping or not.

[Kasa]

I'm gonna give an educated guess and say it's a time based usage, If it was an amount based then you would need to refuel every time your generator was fully drained.

Plus if it was fuel based there would be some kind of indicator to let you know how much power was left in your generator.

[rman88]

thanks for the info.

[mmuziek]

my experience it uses what you use based on the amount you use.
So if u have 2 generators and only use max power that 1 single can generate the 2th one is idle and waits with using the fuelrod (timed) until it needs it.
Every rod has a certain amount of time it can run thats affected by the drainage if im correct.

so to be short > if u use less power then 1 generator generates the 2th or more generators are idle until needed.
The fuel rods are indeed time based however i see them draining faster on higher load.
Wich means if u use 50% of the max generator cap it lasts twice as long

These are my findings i can be wrong but it looks this way

[Stardustfire]

6 solars in a oneway row, ending in a oneway batterie feeding your power grid, shoud give you the equivalent of the poweroutput of at least a little more a small generator provides, as long you have 50-60+ solarradiation in the sector.
i ever flip the switch completly off on my generators and let the panels alone work, and only when the power drains to much because of very very low solar radiation or my power grid is impacted by a solarstorms aftermath (burning power knotes and such) i start up the generators as emergency power supplys (having 2 big ones for a complete scaled 3x2 Cruiser) the complete thing runs normaly with 12 blocks like mentationed in the first section, cushioned by another 4 blocks for systems where solar radiation is low ( ~30%), so i still get enove power without bothering the emergency generators.

[Kasa]

found this in the discord posted by the dev:

Did some more research. The tooltips say:

Energium Generator: 0.0013 Energium = 10 power (= 7692 power per 1 Energium)
X1 Generator: 0.002 Energy Rod = 15 power (= 7500 power per 1 Energy Rod)

Since you get 2 Energy Rods from 1 Energium, your efficiency more or less doubles (7500 x 2 = 15000 power per 1 Energium).

Note: this doesn't mean that 2 Energium Generators can easily be replaced by a single X1 Generator. Because the power capacity and output is the same. You only spend less Energium with X1's.

this tells us that I was wrong and is in fact fuel based with 1 Energium producing 7692 power.

[best bulliet target]

They produce power based on to fil up the power system, but the fuel is consumed at fixed rates.
Engerium is 1 block for 7700 units of power
1 Engereium is 2 rods.
Rods give X1=7,500 x2=12500 and X3=20000
so you well get 7700,15000,25000 and 40000 units of power. how fast it's produced is also dependent on type reactor 10-15-25-40. But how long it lasts is based on the drainage (how many items you got tuned on and what). Storage is also an option, But i've stopped abit with that because flares just recks em and all that power is wasted. (need to get shields to nullify the solar flares)
as for solar pannels, they just require space and time and gives free energy :D

[kevinkennedy5141]

** Total Game Changer ** Make your Solar Panels One way feed directly into your generator...So they fill up the generators storage capacity. The Generator uses that before turning on and burning your rods so it consumes the solar power first saving you fuel. If you put the solar someplace far then the machine will steal power from generator leaving your solar doing nothing cuz its full, there by depleting the rods and not using your solar