After unlocking pretty much every research in my massive coal-powered factory with about 50 furnaces, as I was driving around in my coal powered car, my headlights piercing the coal-generated smog, looking for coal fields , it occurred to me that maybe my company isn't doing all it can to protect the environment and maintain an image of social responsibility.
So I decided to fund a solar farm prototype and learn more about solar. Accumulators? Bah, the only thing I need to accumulate is good PR!
I redirected my good ol' transport belts a bit and set my assembling machines to work. As the steel furnaces devoured my coal, I had those panels ready in no time.
So here is my glorious solar farm, sitting useless during the night.
Now, a steam engine has 600 maximum power. A solar panel has 60 maximum power. So each block of 10 panels also has 600 maximum power and is equivalent to a steam engine.(In fact, steam engines seem to never reach maximum power, the 10th square is never green).
My farm has 9 blocks so you can see the space they occupy relative to my steam engines block, to which they are equivalent. (I have another one on the left)
Yep, that's a lot of space.
So was it worth it?
Here's my solar farm during the day. As you can see, I have way more electricity available that I am using.
But is it being wasted?
No! The steam engines are barely running, the animations in the game are very slow and there's very small puffs of smoke coming out.
Indeed, it seems that the game is smart enough to tell the engines to relax, thus almost halting coal consumption!
With that discovery, I deem the solar project a success, and approve additional funding to cover all day electricity production using solar.
Depending on how long the night is, I estimate I am reducing my water-heating coal consumption by about 60%. In addition, even if my coal production collapses, everything will still be running during the day. You don't need accumulators to get those savings too!
