Codex Energy Solar Thermal

Solar Thermal Field

A solar thermal field concentrates sunlight into heat. Mirrors, the Heliostats, follow the sun and focus it on the Solar Receiver, which hands the heat through its Heat Ports to a consumer: an Industrial Boiler that makes steam for a turbine, a Stirling Generator, a Foundry. It produces heat, not electricity, and is a tier I plant.

How it works

1. The receiver collects every heliostat that touches it face to face, directly or through other heliostats.
2. Every heliostat with open sky above it focuses volt.heliostatHeat (default 8, allowed 1–10000) HU/t in full direct sun.
3. A concentrating plant needs direct sun: the sunlight counts squared. At 70 % sunlight the field gives about half its peak, at 50 % only a quarter. Clouds, rain and dusk therefore cost it more than a Solar Array.
4. The receiver hands the heat through its Heat Ports to the consumers right next to them, in the same tick.
5. There is no buffer. Heat no consumer takes in the tick is lost (the mirrors defocus). To keep solar heat for the night, send it into a heat store such as the Molten-Salt Store.

Heat = heliostats under open sky × 8 HU/t × sunlight². Fractions of an HU are carried over.

Building

Shown size: 5 wide, 2 high, 5 deep (adjustable: Rows 1–16, Columns 1–16).

One example of many: within the rules on this page, size and arrangement are up to you; the Build Projector shows the plan in every allowed size.

	Key	Block	Count
	B	Heliostat	20
	A	Heat Port	1
	0	Solar Receiver	1

Step by step

Each picture adds one layer, from the bottom up; the newest layer is bright. The controller wall faces you on the left.

Step 1: Layer 1

Parts in this step: Heliostat (B) ×20, Solar Receiver (0) ×1

Step 2: Layer 2

Parts in this step: Heat Port (A) ×1

Rules

• Shape: any. Heliostats count when they touch the receiver or another counted heliostat with a full face; a diagonal touch does not connect.
• Size: up to volt.maxHeliostats (default 512, allowed 1–4096) heliostats, none more than 32 blocks away from the receiver in any direction.
• Open sky: a heliostat only works when the block above it gets full sky light. This is counted when the field forms and every 10 seconds.
• Heat Ports: Heat Ports that touch the receiver or a heliostat join the field. Each port gives its heat out on the side that faces away from the field; put the consumer (or the consumer's own Heat Port, facing back) there. In the example the port sits on top of the receiver.
• Receiver: one per field. It needs no sky itself.

What takes the heat

• An Industrial Boiler: its Heat Port touches the field's Heat Port face to face. The boiler takes up to 40 HU/t per Heat Exchanger Tube and turns every HU into one mB of steam.
• A Stirling Generator placed against the Heat Port: up to 240 HU/t.
• Plants that use process heat (Foundry, Tunnel Furnace, Chemical Plant) through their Heat Ports.

More on Heat Ports and heat: Process heat.

The screen

• Status: "Formed" or the structure error.
• Heliostats: how many belong to the field; Under open sky: how many of them see the sky.
• Sunlight: the share of the sun the field can use now (already squared).
• Focused heat: the heat the mirrors focused in the last tick.
• Heat output: what the consumers took of it.
• Peak heat: what the heliostats under open sky give in full sun.

Error messages

Message	What to do
Missing parts: Heliostat	Place at least one heliostat touching the receiver.
Too many modules (limit …) near …	More than 512 heliostats; remove some or give them a receiver of their own.
Part of the structure is not loaded (…)	Load the chunks of the whole field.

Building the parts

Glass Pane	Glass Pane	Glass Pane
			→ Heliostat

	Redstone Comparator		→ Solar Receiver

In the world

While the field is formed, the heliostats show only their stands; the receiver draws the mirror plates, each turned between the sun and the receiver. While a consumer takes heat, light beams run from the mirrors to the receiver and its absorber tubes glow, brighter with more heat.

Tip

Match field and consumer The example field of 20 heliostats gives up to 20 × 8 HU/t, which a single Stirling Generator or a boiler with four Heat Exchanger Tubes can take. The boiler example with its 18 tubes takes up to 18 × 40 HU/t, the heat of 90 heliostats.