Power Generation/Consumption Rates for Vehicle Parts

[nameless_survivor]

Does anyone know what they are for solar panels/arrays, or can tell me where in the JSON files they I can locate them? I went digging through the folder with notepad++ and couldn’t find anything that looked like a list of power generation/consumption rates for parts.

I’m currently using nuclear electric supplemented by solar power to run my tank, but I’d like to try and optimize my vehicle configuration. I’m trying to determine the exact amount of solar power necessary to keep my utilities (floodlights, freezer, etc) running, or at least see if its worth using solar arrays for my purposes. I’ve got plenty of reinforced solar panels, and could potentially have space for at least 4 reinforced upgraded solar arrays, more if I rip out the passenger seats. Would that be the equivalent of 48 of the upgraded panels, or is the generation rate not a linear comparison?

[darktoes]

For the record, actually trying to calculate how many solar panels you need will be a fairly fruitless endeavour since weather, seasons, and how much time you actually spend in your car will all impact how much power they generate.

That said, a solar array or two will usually power most vehicles indefinitely without worry. They provide exactly the power of 12 of their parent panels (despite their description) but are also more durable and take up less space. 4 should be more than enough for most purposes, but more can’t hurt.

[nameless_survivor]

How many you think I would need for 4 enhanced electric motors, a mini freezer, 3 floodlights, and 3 cameras?

Also, do you know if turrets passively draw power? I’ve got 4 lascannons and a turbolaser, along with a bunch of conventional weapons.

[darktoes]

…That’s a lot. It depends how much driving you do, how fast you go, etc.
Motors/engines get exponentially less efficient as you add more. So, if you can maintain a decent speed with less motors you definitely should, especially if you drive around a lot. You might even be able to maintain efficiency by just turning off the extras when you don’t need to go 250km/h.

A minifreezer uses a decent amount, but shouldn’t be too big of a worry, especially if you turn it off in winter.

The 3 floodlights is a bit of an issue. Have you considered atomic lamps for internal, side and rear lighting, then using standard headlights for the front? Generally speaking your turrets should handle anything that gets nearby, and you can’t drive sideways anyway. Forward headlights and MAYBE 2 rear floodlights should be more than enough if you get in trouble.

Cameras use very little, but you should still turn them off when not in use. Also keep in mind they have limited range compared to normal vision, so you might consider swapping to mirrors in some places.

To my knowledge turrets have no passive power draw, only a cost on firing.

[nameless_survivor]

Yeah I usually turn off everything when I’m not driving. I think the turrets rely on the cameras to shoot though, they won’t shoot if they cant see. If Im crafting or working inside I leave them on, lights too if its dark out. I had considered the atomic lamps for inside, but I had concerns about accidental irradiation. How bright are they anyway?

[darktoes]

Your turrets should have their own line of sight. You have them mounted on the edge of your vehicle and firing automatically, right?

Atomic lamps won’t leak unless they’re damaged, and I’m not sure that even applies if mounted as a vehicle part. They’re not hugely bright, a tile or two of bright light in all directions, but they’re cheap enough that half a dozen to permanently illuminate your vehicle is usually a sound investment.

[nameless_survivor]

Uh, a couple are at the edge, some are mounted at the center, but all my edge pieces are heavy duty quarterpanels. They dont seem to have a problem shooting things when the area is illuminated.

[darktoes]

That should be fine, quarterpanels can be shot over. Turrets don’t need to use your line of sight, the cameras shouldn’t make any difference (unless some funny business is going on). Illumination is, indeed, going to be your main issue, but floodlights are horrible power hogs. 1500 epower to a headlight’s 187. Not sure what that actually means, but that’s a big power difference, 8 headlights to a floodlight. If you can surround your car in headlights it would be cheaper than the three floodlights.

I’ve also heard of people using emergency lights, the type from the tops of police cars and fire engines. I think they illuminate a decent area, but intermittently so you might have a better chance of evading zombies. The turrets should be able to fire during the lit time, and they use even less power than headlights.

[mlangsdorf]

Solar panels are defined in data/json/vehicle_parts.json, but let me cut to the chase and give you the numbers:
solar panel: 50W
reinforced panel: 45W
upgraded panel: 100W
reinforced upgrade panel: 90W
quantum panel: 300W
solar array: 600W
upgraded solar awrray: 1200W

freezers draw -45W each, and minifridges -30W. Floodlights draw -1500W, headlights draw -187W, aisle lights -75W, and dome lights -25W.

Motors draw 13 kW - 160kW nominal, but that’s filtered through some weird algorithm and I dunno, man.

Anyway, 1 solar array = 12 panels. You’re only saving space.

[nameless_survivor]

45 watts for a freezer, but 1500 watts for a floodlight? What the hell? Why are floodlights such power hogs, thats ridiculous.

[darktoes]

Ever put your hand near one of those REALLY bright lights they use in theatres/construction sites? They put out a LOT of heat. Illuminating a big area like that takes a lot of energy.

Also, if you do try to determine the number of solar panels you need keep in mind that solar panels don’t work in bad weather or at night, so in reality you’re probably looking at around 1/10 as much power during winter, and 1/2 as much power during summer overall.

[mlangsdorf]

1.5 kW for a vehicle flood light? Seems pretty sane to me, really.

[darktoes]

Even then, it might be high for a single floodlight, but it’s omni-directional ingame, which means there could be anywhere between 4 and 20 of them in there.

[nameless_survivor]

Yeah, but a minfreezer should be consuming more power than a small flashlight right? The differential seems…off. I’d have to dig out my thermodynamics book to be certain, but I’m pretty sure the heat input from the environment on a minifreezer would be higher than that. I can understand a floodlight array using up a bunch of juice, but it seems like other parts arent using near as much.

[darktoes]

Quick google suggests freezers use somewhere between 100 and 400 watts. If it’s a minifreezer, presumably around 1/3 the size of a normal one, if not smaller, that should be fine. Plus, near future. Maybe they came up with some more advanced insulation materials or something.

[mlangsdorf]

Energy-Star compliant minifridges are fairly efficient. Cake-pie did some research on them in the last two months, and dropped them down from 250W to 30W.

The flashlights are apparently still using incandescent bulbs instead of LEDs, I guess. 75W for an incandescent bulb is a room light.

[nameless_survivor]

Huh, I didnt know they had gotten so efficient.

[Eastwardrope91]

You could try sleeping during the day and driving at night allowing your solar panels to charge as much as they will be able to. You could also make a charging station for your batteries so you can just swap them out when you need power and let it charge them while you drive and do what you want to do.