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Solar energy and Solar panels


BillyBibbit

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Hello everyone,

 

First thing : I tried to use the search feature on the forum but after almost 10 mins of waiting I couldn't get the results to load so i'm posting.

 

I wanted to know if solar energy and solar panels was planed for future updates ? The technology was already well developped in 1993 and this would be a good alternative to gas stations running dry and biofuel to get power. The power of the sun has been used for as long as we recorded history and is always something comforting when humans are in a survival situation. It brings light, warmth and make the crops grow so we can eat.

 

I really feel this could be a balanced feature if it is less efficient that generators with gas while requiring way less (or even zero) maintenance, and of course, a rare loot.

 

Thanks for reading me.

 

 

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It has certainly been discussed in the past here on the forums. 

 

There's a few realistic challenges with solar in 1993:

  1. Availability of solar panels: Back in 1993 solar was not common for residential, industrial, or commercial use. Solar was simply too expensive to be cost effective. Back in the early 90's you would expect the cost per watt was about $8.00 USD. Nowadays its around $3.00 USD. The one place that it was utilized frequently was with public works. Think of all those road signs alerting you to construction etc. So panels would need to be extremely rare and likely only available at a few locations on the map. They were also vastly less efficient than they are today, so don't expect to get much power from them. Appliances were also more power hungry back then than they are today. You would need a sizeable array just to run your fridge. Even iridescent lightbulbs were magnitudes more power hungry than modern LEDs lights. Finding a panel or two would not solve many problems for you. Maybe charging batteries over time would be a practical application? 
  2. Setting up a solar system sounds simple, but it requires a number of components. Solar panels create DC which would need to be converted to AC to be used by household appliances etc. So you would need inverters. You would also need a voltage regulator to ensure that you do not fry the electronics you intend to use. This isn't to say these couldn't be added to the game, but again they would be very rare in 1993. We have electrical professions, skill books, etc so its not unreasonable that a player character could learn to use them or even make them at a very high electrical skill. 
  3. Just like current times, solar only works during the day. It works on cloudy days, but at a significantly reduced rate. To be utilized around the clock a storage system would be needed. Even today in 2021 home storage systems are very expensive and rare. In 1993? They were non-existent. A bunch of car batteries could maybe be utilized to store power, but its unlikely you would be able to keep them charged without a significant array. A common 100ah 12v car battery could run a 100w light bulb continuously for about 6 hours if its discharged to about 50% (lead acid deep cycle batteries should never be discharged more than that to maintain the life of the battery). So you would need a huge array of solar panels to keep your huge array of batteries charged.

This is a game and some liberties can be taken in place of realism, but honestly, its a bit of a stretch to expect to get much practical use out of them based on their efficiency in 1993 and the lack of efficiency in appliances/devices.

 

However, I think finding a panel or two to charge DC batteries (car and flashlights) overtime would be a reasonable application in this game. Powering your home with a few panels just isn't going to work. But with limited fuel supplies at gas stations now, maybe they could be added as a late-game thing to work towards. 

Edited by CaptKaspar
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On 10/19/2021 at 7:46 PM, CaptKaspar said:

However, I think finding a panel or two to charge DC batteries (car and flashlights) overtime would be a reasonable application in this game. Powering your home with a few panels just isn't going to work. But with limited fuel supplies at gas stations now, maybe they could be added as a late-game thing to work towards. 

 

I've always said that solar panels would never come for the exact reasons you listed above, but now that this is a feature I do agree that this would be an interesting way for them to be used. Especially in long-term MP where gas might be all but gone from the map. Now biofuel or gasohol might be a better alternative to keep generators running in the long-run, but I wouldn't mind having solar panels found in public works and RVs to help your car batteries recharge.

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