Difference between revisions of "Electricity"

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For example, a large block [[Small Reactor]] generating electricity at maximum capacity 15 MW to supply a large ship's total electrical needs (such as refineries, thrusters at full capacity, etc), will consume 1 kg of uranium in 4 minutes. While a large block [[Large Reactor]] will consume 1 kg of uranium ingots in as little as 12 seconds, at it's full output of 300 MW per second. Consumption of Uranium is solely decided by your current energy demand. There is no difference in efficiency between large and small reactors per uranium ingot, so a large reactor doesn't use uranium or extract any more energy out of a uranium ingot than any small one would. It also makes no difference how many reactors you have online, reactors that are not needed will not draw any unnecessary power or use any uranium within them until required.
 
For example, a large block [[Small Reactor]] generating electricity at maximum capacity 15 MW to supply a large ship's total electrical needs (such as refineries, thrusters at full capacity, etc), will consume 1 kg of uranium in 4 minutes. While a large block [[Large Reactor]] will consume 1 kg of uranium ingots in as little as 12 seconds, at it's full output of 300 MW per second. Consumption of Uranium is solely decided by your current energy demand. There is no difference in efficiency between large and small reactors per uranium ingot, so a large reactor doesn't use uranium or extract any more energy out of a uranium ingot than any small one would. It also makes no difference how many reactors you have online, reactors that are not needed will not draw any unnecessary power or use any uranium within them until required.
  
A [[Battery]] is special it doesn't general electricity it merely stores it for later use, its wise to combine renewable electrical generation from [[solar panels]] with batteries and never use reactors as the battery is only 80% efficient. That is while it will draw 4 MW per second and store 3.00 MW-h (for large blocks), the battery will actually end up demanding/using 3.75 MW-h from electrical sources - 750 KW-h will be wasted. A Large Ship battery continuously at full output 12 MW, at maximum charge 3.00 MW-h will be completely depleted in 15 Minutes.
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A [[Battery]] is special it doesn't general electricity it merely stores it for later use, its wise to combine renewable electrical generation from [[Solar Panel| solar panels]] with batteries and never use reactors as the battery is only 80% efficient. That is while it will draw 4 MW per second and store 3.00 MW-h (for large blocks), the battery will actually end up demanding/using 3.75 MW-h from electrical sources - 750 KW-h will be wasted. A Large Ship battery continuously at full output 12 MW, at maximum charge 3.00 MW-h will be completely depleted in 15 Minutes.
  
  

Revision as of 10:28, 18 October 2015

Electricity is a system and resource in Space Engineers that is used to power most devices. It is created using a large or small reactor, or by using a Solar Panel. It can be stored in a Battery. Any device that has a direct block connection to a reactor will be powered by a reactor; that is, if a reactor is on a ship, all devices attached to that ship should receive power granted there is enough power to receive. Electricity can pass through rotor blocks, pistons, and locked connectors (incl. small-to-large connections), but not landing gear. Most blocks have off switches if you want to save electricity temporarily.

Electricity fundamentals & Terminology

In Space Engineers, electricity is based around several concepts. When referring to consumption or demand, a Watt of energy demand will consume 1 watt over 1 second. Watts come in various unit conversions from KW to MW, as seen in the table. When referring to energy stored or energy needed over time, a Watt-hour (W-h) is typically used to represent this amount over an hour (3600 seconds). This is typically used to refer to stored energy in a charged battery or to fuel like uranium ingots. Reactors are the main source of reliable electricity, and they require Uranium Ingots as fuel.

1 kg of refined uranium ingots converts to 1 MW-h of power, that is a reactor that needs to supply 1 MW per second to ship or station will consume all of its uranium in 1 hour. If the reactor needs to supply 2 MW per second, it will consume 1 kg of uranium in half the time and so on. For example, a large block Small Reactor generating electricity at maximum capacity 15 MW to supply a large ship's total electrical needs (such as refineries, thrusters at full capacity, etc), will consume 1 kg of uranium in 4 minutes. While a large block Large Reactor will consume 1 kg of uranium ingots in as little as 12 seconds, at it's full output of 300 MW per second. Consumption of Uranium is solely decided by your current energy demand. There is no difference in efficiency between large and small reactors per uranium ingot, so a large reactor doesn't use uranium or extract any more energy out of a uranium ingot than any small one would. It also makes no difference how many reactors you have online, reactors that are not needed will not draw any unnecessary power or use any uranium within them until required.

A Battery is special it doesn't general electricity it merely stores it for later use, its wise to combine renewable electrical generation from solar panels with batteries and never use reactors as the battery is only 80% efficient. That is while it will draw 4 MW per second and store 3.00 MW-h (for large blocks), the battery will actually end up demanding/using 3.75 MW-h from electrical sources - 750 KW-h will be wasted. A Large Ship battery continuously at full output 12 MW, at maximum charge 3.00 MW-h will be completely depleted in 15 Minutes.


Conversion Table Watt (W) Kilo-Watt (KW) Mega-Watt (MW)
Mega-Watt (MW) 1'000'000 W 1'000 KW 1 MW
Kilo-Watt (KW) 1'000 W 1 KW 0.001 MW
Watt (W) 1 W 0.001 KW 0.000001 MW


Sources energy

Maximum output for Electricity Sources:

Energy Source Small Ship Icon.png Small block [KW] Large Ship Icon.png Large block [KW]
Small Reactor Icon.png Small Reactor 500 15'000
Large Reactor Icon.png Large Reactor 14'750 300'000
Solar Panel Icon.png Solar Panel 30* 120*
Battery Icon.png Battery 4'320 12'000

(*) Solar Panels have a maximum output depending on their angle to the sun and the amount of actually lit surface. Given values are the maximum achievable output with perfect conditions.


Power Usage

Thruster

Thruster type Block type Minimum Power [KW] Maximum Power [KW] Inertial Dampeners [KW]
Small Thruster Icon.png Small Small Ship Icon.png Small 0.002 201 301.5
Large Thruster Icon.png Large Small Ship Icon.png Small 0.002 2'400 3'600
Small Thruster Icon.png Small Large Ship Icon.png Large 0.002 3'360 5'040
Large Thruster Icon.png Large Large Ship Icon.png Large 0.002 33'600 50'400

Production (Individual Usage)

Machine Idle [KW] Operational [KW]
Projector Icon.png Projector 0.100 0.198
Arc Furnace Icon.png Arc Furnace 0.999 330.000
Assembler Icon.png Assembler 0.999 560.000
Refinery Icon.png Refinery 0.999 560.000

Weaponry and tools

Device Small Ship Icon.png Small Ship [KW] Large Ship Icon.png Large Ship [KW]
Drill Icon.png Drill 2 2
Welder (Tool) Icon.png Welder 2 2
Grinder (Tool) Icon.png Grinder 2 2
Gatling Turret Icon.png Gatling Turret N/A 2
Missile Turret Icon.png Missile Turret N/A 2
Interior Turret Icon.png Interior Turret N/A 2
Reloadable Rocket Launcher Icon.png Reloadable Rocket Launcher 0.2 N/A
Gatling Gun Icon.png Gatling Gun 0.2 N/A

Communication

Device Small Ship Icon.png Small Ship [KW] Large Ship Icon.png Large Ship [KW]
Beacon Icon.png Beacon 0 - 10 0 - 10
Antenna Icon.png Antenna 0 - 20 0 - 200
Laser Antenna Icon.png Laser Antenna 181** 577**

(**) The maximum power usage of laser antenna include both beaming and rotating at once. Beaming alone would be 180 for Small and 576 For large.

Other device power usages

Device Small Ship Icon.png Small Ship [KW] Large Ship Icon.png Large Ship [KW]
Gravity Generator Icon.png Gravity Generator N/A 0 - 567.13***
Spherical Gravity Generator Icon.png Spherical Gravity Generator N/A 0 - 44800***
Artificial Mass Icon.png Artificial Mass 25 600
Interior Light Icon.png Interior Light N/A 0.06
Spotlight Icon.png Spotlight 0.200 1
Medical Room Icon.png Medical Room N/A 2
Door Icon.png Door N/A 0.031
Gyroscope Icon.png Gyroscope 0.001 0.03
Ore Detector Icon.png Ore Detector 2 2
LCD Panel Icon.png LCD Panel 0.1 0.1
Wide LCD Panel Icon.png Wide LCD Panel 0.2 0.2
Button Panel Icon.png Button Panel 0.1 0.1
Rotor Icon.png Rotor 0.2 2
Advanced Rotor Icon.png Advanced Rotor 0.2 2
Piston Base Icon.png Piston Base 0.2 2
Collector Icon.png Collector 2 2
Connector Icon.png Connector 0.05 5
Camera Icon.png Camera 0.03 0.03
Sensor Icon.png Sensor 0 - 30 0 - 30
Remote Control Icon.png Remote Control 10 10
Programmable Block Icon.png Programmable Block 0.5 0.5
Sound Block Icon.png Sound Block 0.2 0.2

(***) The power cost of Gravity Generator is directly proportional to the field size and acceleration (absolute value, so 1G consumes the same as -1G).