Factorio Forums

I'd like to suggest that entities that produce electricity (Steam Engine, Turbine, Solar Panel) can be connected to the circuit network and offer the following options:
- Enable/Disable (turns the generator on or off - useful for switching from solar to steam and vice-versa. Only appliccable to generators that consume something to produce power)
- Output Electrical Statistics
* Current performance (percentage, default to value Y)
* Maximum performance (percentage, default to value Z)

Being able to read out your electrical grid's performance helps throttle power generation in some situations. Being able to switch generators on and off helps not having to partition your power grid - the devs have stated that separate power grids aren't UPS friendly, so using power switches to isolate generators is likely not the preferred solution.

Use cases:
- Send a plantwide warning if your power requirements approach maximum via the speakers, signalling that your power plant needs expansion.
- Switch steam-based generators on or off based on load as your power demands change (day/night, solar generators coming on or off).
- Preemptively switch off high power consumers once your solar panels start to lose maximum performance.
- Displaying current power capacity used

the devs have stated that separate power grids aren't UPS friendly, so using power switches to isolate generators is likely not the preferred solution.

I'm sure your suggestion of giving every single solar cell statistics and in and output would be far worse than some isolated power grids.

gsezz wrote:

the devs have stated that separate power grids aren't UPS friendly, so using power switches to isolate generators is likely not the preferred solution.

I'm sure your suggestion of giving every single solar cell statistics and in and output would be far worse than some isolated power grids.

I'm sure there's a way to implement this with individual stats only generated on wired entities. I don't think that players will begin to connect all their solar panels... The example of use given in the first post involves few circuit connections.

So I'm all for this.

gsezz wrote:

the devs have stated that separate power grids aren't UPS friendly, so using power switches to isolate generators is likely not the preferred solution.

I'm sure your suggestion of giving every single solar cell statistics and in and output would be far worse than some isolated power grids.

They already have this. Every Solar Panel has a Performance bar which shows how much power it is currently providing. That they all have exactly the same value shouldn't matter.
All I'm asking is for the circuit network to be able to read/access this info that is already available on the unit - as is evidenced by hovering your mouse over it and seeing the Performance (and optionally Max performance) bar. And for the ability to turn resource-consuming power producers on or off optionally.

If this value is already in the game, it should be moddable to get it read by a circuit network.

You can read the fill level of accumulators.
If it's not 100% your power production is to low...

If you're using a steam tank then you can read the steam storage. This is generally more tricky to set up.

Accumulators automatically output their charge level as a percentage between 0 - 100. (there's no real obvious way to know this at first glance!) Just wire up an accumulator, read the [A] signal and do what you need.

steinio wrote:You can read the fill level of accumulators.
If it's not 100% your power production is to low...

Not neccesarily. If you use accu's during the night to be almost fully or completely solar, then using an accumulator to detect persistent power shortages is not possible. Also, an accumulator can't detect max performance degradation in steam generators (which signals a fueling issue). If it's moddable I might just have a crack at that myself.

+1

In general, I am in favour of anything which exposes more info to the circuit network and gives more granular control over managing your factory.