Solars
| Engineering Area | |
 | |
| Wire the solars, you lazy bums! | |
| Obvious exits | Solar Control Room north/south (depending on the solar array you're on), space anywhere |
| Purpose | Powers the station by capturing sun rays |
| Access level | |
| Noteworthy contents | Solar Control Computer, SMES Cell |
| Clearance | Captain, Chief Engineer, Engineer |
| Security level | Low |
| Style | Solar array |
| Balance Requirements | |
| Other Notes | |
 Locations on /tg/station
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The Forgotten Power Source
Solars often are fully neglected by but a few people, though whether this is due to laziness or fear of things amongst the deep is unknown. HOWEVER, they are the safest way to supplement the station's power supply without burning through a precious resource. While it provides nowhere near enough power to fuel an entire station, a secondary power supply can help keep the lights on until evac or a shard arrives after a engine delamination.
Location
Solars, as common sense would dictate, is located outside for access to the sun. While the location varies from station to station, solars are almost always attached to maintenance and a trip around the edge of the station will let you find all the solars easily enough. The obscure entrance to maintenance and location at the edge of the station makes this a common destination for odd sights, ranging from spaced corpses to odd visitors wearing a fancy red suit. Get solars wired up fast enough to the start of the shift, though, and you'll likely be finished before antagonistic forces get around to the place.
Connecting the Arrays
You need:
- Several cable coils
- One EVA suit, a Modsuit, or even a firesuit and cup of coffee
- One crowbar to open doors if the power is out.
- A large stack of metal, as some stations by default need repairs to the array. You can build new flooring by placing rods on space then applying a floor tile.
- Optionally, a pair of Insulated gloves. The insulated mutation or a sip of grey bull can suffice; anything to stop the shock of connecting live wires will do.
Nanotrasen engineers are renowned for their shoddy craftsmanship and poor work ethic. You will find that none of the four solar arrays have been connected to the station. You will need to connect the solar panels and the solar tracker to the wire leading from the station. Simply connect all the panels and trackers to the computer with wire, making sure the wires go under each individual panel's tile. Annoyingly, some Nanotrasen engineers are especially renowned for their poor work ethic and as such occasionally the solar panels are still in their box. In such a situation, you'll need to drop a solar panel frame from the box onto a tile, wrench it down, then apply glass. You can also do this for purchased boxes of solar panels, and some space ruins have boxes of solars just waiting to be wired up. Make sure to use the computer and scan for new equipment after attaching additional parts to the array!
Calibrating the Arrays
Once you have wired an array, you need to calibrate the tracking and power so that it actually produces energy. Apparently, our space station is rotating or in orbit around something (no one really knows for sure). This means that the solar panels need to constantly rotate to face toward the sun. Click on the Solar Control CPU and set it to auto-tracking. You should see a degree displayed at the top ranging from 0 to 359; this is the current direction of the sun.
(The consoles are a bit glitchy so you might have to turn off auto-tracking then turn it on again before the panels start to rotate). Note that auto rotation is not smooth, it jumps about every 20 seconds. Keep this in mind if it seems like nothing is happening.
You don't need to use manual tracking!! The only time you will ever need to manually calibrate a solar array is when a meteor or traitor destroys the tracking unit. When manually adjusting the angle, just keep adjusting towards the highest power you can find.
It is important to note that THE SUN ISN'T ALWAYS VISIBLE! This is the biggest cause of solar failure known to spessmen. When the panels of an array face the sun directly (and are correctly wired) they produce about 90,000 Watts of power. However, this amount lowers as the station orbits or spins or whatever towards 0 watts. This cycle takes about 5 minutes, and poor timing can cause a poor innocent engineer to think that they messed up their design, "Because it's making 0 watts! Clearly it must be broken!" Just give it a bit and you'll figure out if it is broken.
Why is this important?
Because of the battery! See that big white thing in the solar control room? That's the SMES cell. It's a battery used for holding solar energy and transferring it to the station. Click on the battery and you get a window with input, output, and charging options.
Important Battery Facts
Solar batteries (SMES cells) start at 20% power but if the engine is off the station drains them to 0% in a few minutes. An input of 90,000 watts (full sun) might charge the battery for a little while, but once the sunlight is blocked by the station the battery charge may begin to drain.
(Optional) Skipping the SMES Cells
You can optionally reroute the wiring and skip the whole battery setup! This is only really useful if you have severely increased the size of the solar array or don't want a meddling AI messing with the incoming power as easily. Just recognize two wires: The wire coming from the Solar Control computer and going to the SMES cell, and the other wire coming from the SMES cell and going to the station power grid. Connect these two wires and voilá! You have skipped the SMES cell. No need to turn that pesky SMES on at all, just configure the Solar Control computer and you're done, time to move to the next set of solars! You've also just disconnected a battery, so good luck keeping power if a delamination wipes out the SMES in engineering.
Setting up the SMES
After you have wired the array, set tracking to auto, and verified that the panels are indeed rotating, set the battery like so:
Charging: Auto
Input: Maxed at 200 kW
Output: 0-200 kW
Setting the output lower means more power is stored, but once you go above 45kw you will begin to send out more power than you store. At that point, you may as well disconnect the SMES from the solar array.
DANGER WILL ROBINSON
There are a few dangers on the solars, one being the electrical wires if you forgot to wear insulated gloves: never forget or you will get zapped! In addition, you are vulnerable and alone. This leaves you an easy target for those pesky space carps and/or space-walking attackers that need a new cover identity. Finally, there is the chance to misstep and go drifting off through space. This hazard is easily solved if you act quickly. Simply throw something in the direction of your flight path, like shoes, or a pen. The equal and opposite reaction will start pushing you in the other direction! Of course, if you are a ne'er-do-well, solars serve as a useful tool. A hotwired solar can boost the power of a hacked door, and the access to and from maintenance means that a body could easily be lost amongst the stars. Just avoid the camera that is placed in most solar rooms, and you have a base of operations set up and ready for the taking! If you got spaced by an aforementioned evildoer, your life isn't over. Look over what you have and consider your options. Turn on internals, pull up a winter coat hood, drink coffee, and take any medicine you have. If you can live long enough, circle the station for arrivals or departures so that you can enter. You can always try to yell for help over the radio, and the AI camera in the maintenance connection room means they can open a path in. All else failing, try to break into the maintenance room or inject your epinepherine pen (if present) and pray someone finds your corpse before it husks.
