Power Systems Deep Dive — Solar, Thermal, Nuclear & Grid Design

Power Tier Overview

Power generation evolves through four distinct tiers. Each unlocks new capabilities — and new failure modes.

Tier	Generator	Power Output	Unlock Condition	Fuel Cost
1	Wind Turbine	6W	Start	Free (wind)
1	Solar Panel	4W	50 total crafts	Free (sunlight)
2	Thermal Generator	15W	100 total smelts	Coal/Wood
2	Water Wheel	12W	Explore rivers	Free (flowing water)
3	Gas Generator	40W	Oil processing	Refined fuel
3	Geothermal Plant	60W	Map deep scan	Free (heat vents)
4	Nuclear Reactor	250W	Endgame research	Uranium rods

TIP: "Free" generators have hidden costs — Wind Turbines need batteries to smooth output, Solar needs daylight, Water Wheels need specific terrain. Nothing is truly free.

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Tier 1: Wind & Solar

These are your starter generators. They share one critical flaw: intermittent output.

Wind Output Curve

Wind speed varies by altitude and time of day. Here's the data:

Altitude	Day Avg	Night Avg	Peak (any time)
Sea level (0-20m)	3W	5W	8W
Low hill (20-50m)	5W	8W	11W
High cliff (50m+)	7W	10W	12W

# Wind power calculator
def wind_power(altitude, is_night, wind_events_active):
    base = min(12, altitude * 0.15 + 3)
    night_bonus = 2 if is_night else 0
    wind_event = 5 if wind_events_active else 0
    return min(12, base + night_bonus + wind_event)

# Solar is simpler — it's 0 at night
def solar_power(time_of_day):
    if time_of_day < 6 or time_of_day > 18:
        return 0  # Night
    peak_hours = min(time_of_day - 6, 18 - time_of_day)
    return round(4 * (peak_hours / 6), 1)

print(f"Wind at 35m, day: {wind_power(35, False, False)}W")
print(f"Solar at 14:00: {solar_power(14)}W")
# Output: 8.25W, 2.6W

Battery Sizing

Battery Type	Capacity	Charge Rate	Materials	Unlock
Small Battery	60W	6W/s	20 Copper, 10 Iron	Starting
Medium Battery	240W	12W/s	50 Copper, 30 Iron, 15 Silicon	Tier-2 bench
Large Battery	1000W	20W/s	100 Copper, 80 Iron, 40 Titanium	Tier-3 bench

WARN: Batteries explode if overcharged. Each battery has a max input rate. Exceed it and you get a 3-tile radius fire. Medium batteries are the most cost-effective — skip small ones.

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Tier 2: Thermal & Water

Thermal Generator

Burns solid fuel for reliable, on-demand power.

Fuel Type	Burn Time (per unit)	Power	Energy per Unit	Cost per W
Wood	30s	15W	7.5 W-min	Very Low
Coal	90s	15W	22.5 W-min	Low
Charcoal	120s	15W	30 W-min	Low (crafted)
Biomass Pellets	45s	20W	15 W-min	Medium

Thermal generator efficiency bonus:
- Coal: 100% base
- Wood: 80% (burns faster than expected)
- Charcoal: 120% (most efficient per unit)
- Biomass: 90%

Verdict: Charcoal is king at Tier 2.
Setup: 1 furnace making charcoal feeds ~3 thermal generators

Water Wheel

Requires flowing water. Output scales with flow rate.

{
  "water_wheel_placement": {
    "minimum_flow": "4 tiles wide, 2 deep",
    "ideal_flow": "6+ tiles wide, 3+ deep",
    "output_at_minimum": "8W",
    "output_at_ideal": "12W",
    "bonus": "Receives 2x output during rain storms",
    "penalty": "0 output during drought events (rare, biome-dependent)"
  }
}

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Tier 3: Gas & Geothermal

Gas Generator

Requires a Refinery setup:

Geothermal Plant

Must be built on top of a Heat Vent. Find them using the Deep Scanner (unlocked at Tier-2 bench).

Geothermal output by vent grade:
Grade A: 60W constant — extremely rare
Grade B: 45W constant — 1-2 per map
Grade C: 30W constant — most common
Grade D: 15W constant — not worth building on

Distance penalty: -1W per 10 tiles from vent to plant
Max distance: 50 tiles (after which output reaches 0)

TIP: Mark all Grade A and B vents when you scan. Even if you don't need power yet, you'll want them later. Use Ctrl + B to save map pins with custom labels.

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Tier 4: Nuclear Reactor

End-game power. One reactor can run an entire megabase.

Setup Requirements

Component	Amount	Materials
Reactor Core	1	200 Titanium, 100 Uranium, 50 Circuit Boards
Cooling Tower	4	300 Stone, 100 Copper each
Control Station	1	50 Titanium, 20 Circuit Boards
Waste Storage	3	100 Lead, 50 Concrete each

Nuclear Math

Single Uranium Rod burn time:  600 seconds (10 minutes)
Power during burn:             250W continuous
Total energy per rod:          250W × 600s = 2500 W-min

Waste produced:                1 Spent Rod per fuel rod
Spent Rod decay time:          2 hours (real time)
Storage needed per hour:       ~6 rods buffer minimum

Reactor meltdown temp threshold:  1200°C (adds 1°C/s per rod in use)
Cooling deficit temp rise:        5°C/s without active cooling
Meltdown at:                      1500°C (300s without cooling after threshold)

DANGER: A nuclear meltdown destroys everything in a 10-tile radius and creates a radiation zone that persists for 72 hours real time. Do not build your reactor within 100 tiles of your main base. Do not leave waste storage unattended. The "meltdown at 1500°C" is not flavor text — it's a hard game mechanic.

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Grid Design Principles

Load Balancing

Rule of thumb: Generators × 0.8 = Safe Continuous Load

Example:
2x Thermal Generators (15W each) = 30W capacity
Safe continuous load: 30W × 0.8 = 24W
If your factory needs 25W+, build a third generator

Grid Topology

Why Ring Main?

Three reasons:

1. Redundancy — lose one generator and the ring re-routes
2. Maintenance — isolate sections without shutting down everything
3. Scalability — tap into any point on the ring for new factories

WARN: Don't daisy-chain generators. If the link between generator 1 and generator 2 breaks, everything after the break loses power. Ring topology fixes this.

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Power Priority System

Use Circuit Breakers to assign priority to different factory sections:

Priority	Section	Behavior on Overload
Critical	Defense Grid	Never disconnected
High	Fuel Production	Disconnected last
Medium	Main Factory	Disconnected if load > 90%
Low	Decorative/Aesthetic	Disconnected first

{
  "breaker_config_example": {
    "defense_priority": "critical",
    "fuel_refinery_priority": "high", 
    "smelting_array_priority": "medium",
    "lighting_priority": "low",
    "behavior_on_overload": "shed low first, then medium, notify player"
  }
}

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Troubleshooting Grid Issues

Symptom	Likely Cause	Check
Partial blackout	One breaker tripped	Inspect breaker panel
Flickering lights	Generator intermittent	Wind/Solar? Check weather
Battery not charging	Input exceeded	Charge rate cap? Right battery?
High pitched hum	Overloaded transformer	Add step-down transformer
Random fires	Overcharged batteries	Check battery charge rate limits
Reactor alarm	Temp rising	Add cooling towers immediately

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Changelog

Version	Changes	Date
v0.3.2	Nuclear meltdown radiation duration increased 48h→72h, cooling deficit rate corrected	2026-04-30
v0.3.0	Geothermal plants added, Water Wheel output rebalanced	2026-04-15
v0.2.5	Initial publication	2026-03-28