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FAQ
Short answers. Each one links to the guide with the details.
Do I need a skill to use it? No. Placing, wiring and running a rig need no skill. Skills only matter for building parts.
Where do I get parts? Find them or build them. Hardware, electronics and car supply stores have boxed parts; garages, barns, farms and electricians' trucks have used ones. About 1 house in 15 has a rig in the yard. See Finding parts.
How do I learn the recipes? Read the Photovoltaic Systems Handbook (9 recipes) or Advanced Photovoltaics and MPPT (5 recipes). Levelling Electrical never teaches them.
What do I need to build a Charge Controller? The handbook, Electrical 3, a car battery charger, 6 electronics scrap, 3 electric wire, 1 sheet metal, 4 screws, a screwdriver and pliers.
Can I add it to a running save? Yes. Places you already explored keep what they had; new areas get parts and yard rigs.
How do I connect panels, batteries and the controller?
- Right-click a Solar Array, Off-Grid › Run cable from here.
- Right-click the controller, Off-Grid › Connect Solar Array.
- Do the same for the Battery Bank.
- Right-click the controller, Off-Grid › Switch on.
See Build your first rig.
Does every panel need its own cable to the controller? No. Arrays can chain to arrays and banks to banks. Every chain has to end at the controller.
How long can a cable be? 12 tiles per run (Sandbox › Off-Grid › Link radius). Past that you see "Too far for one run of cable." Chain through another array or bank.
How do I remove a cable? Right-click a wired part, Off-Grid › Cut a cable, and pick the link.
Can the controller and batteries go indoors? Yes. Only arrays need open sky, and the controller makes no fumes.
How far does the power reach? Everything within 20 tiles of a running controller, the same as a generator.
What trips the breaker, and how do I stop it?
Since 2.10.0 nothing trips it. Older versions latched the controller off (BREAKER TRIP) when the batteries ran flat.
Now the controller cuts the house off at the batteries' floor (LOW BATT) and turns the power back on by itself. If a
controller still shows BREAKER TRIP from before 2.10.0, right-click it, Off-Grid › Reset the breaker, once.
The lights go out at night (LOW BATT). How do I stop that? Add batteries or panels, switch off what you don't need at night, or use better racks: a Sealed Battery Cabinet runs down to 8%, a crate only to 30%. See Batteries.
When does the power come back after LOW BATT?
By itself, once the batteries can run what is switched on for about half an in-game hour. The screen shows the target:
LOAD SHED BACK AT N%. Switching things off lowers N.
Do batteries wear out? Only while they are below their floor. The controller stops the load there, but flat batteries you fit start below it and wear until the sun lifts them. Sandbox › Off-Grid › Deep discharge damages the bank turns wear off.
What is equalising? A slow charge that brings back a worn crate or Battery Bank, about 2% health an hour, using only spare sun once the bank is full. Right-click the controller, Off-Grid › Start an equalisation charge. The option only shows when there is health to recover; sealed cabinets never need it.
Does it do anything before the power goes out? The panels charge the batteries. While the town grid still has power, your appliances run on the grid and cost the batteries nothing.
What uses the most power? A dryer (1800 W), a stove or microwave (1400 W) and a washer-dryer (1200 W). Fridges and freezers run day and night. See What uses your power.
Can two controllers share a house? Yes, but an appliance both reach is paid for by both, like two petrol generators.
Why do my panels make so little? Clouds, winter, dust, snow, damage or a poor facing. Read the array's Info card. See Where the power comes from.
Why can't I pick up a panel? "Placed by somebody else" means the server uses the owner lock: only the owner, their safehouse, admins and moderators can. "Switch it off first" means it is a running controller. See Multiplayer.
I made a new character. Are my parts still mine? Yes. Ownership follows your account, not your character.
How do I let everyone take parts? Sandbox › Off-Grid › Who may pick up solar parts › Anyone.
Does the server need the mod too? Yes. The server and every player need the same version.
My controller powers nothing on a server with LG Extended Electricity.
That mod's "Mod sets generator range" option, on by default, cuts the game's generator range to 1 tile and leaves
solar controllers out when it redraws the ranges. Since 2.10.1 the LOADS page says POWER REACH 1 TILE. A server admin
fixes it: stop the server, set "Mod sets generator range" and "Mod sets generator vertical range" to off in LG Extended
Electricity's sandbox settings, then start it again.
Does it work with other mods? Yes. Error Magnifier, Water Pipes, LG Extended Electricity and Better Generator Info have extra support. See the README.
How do I report a bug? See Troubleshooting.