Solars

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MetaStation Solar Arrays

There are a total of 141 solar panels already outside the station ready to be wired to the network. On top of this, the station has allocated space for a total of 215 panels. Additional solar panels can be retrieved from the engineering wing on the east end of the station.

Fore Port Array

MetaStation's northwestern solar array as of 08JUL2024

MetaStation's northeastern solar array as of 08JUL2024

Accessed via the north hallway of Fore Port Maintenance. The maintenance entrance is north of the Cargo Lobby. Go north from the Bounty Pad and then west of the Vault entrance. Once inside go north, slightly to the left, and then further north to the control room entrance.

The array itself is in a damaged state, and will need significant work to repair. </tab> </tabs>

The Forgotten Power Source

Solars often are fully neglected by but a few people, though whether this is due to laziness or fear of things amongst the deep is unknown. HOWEVER, they are the safest way to supplement the station's power supply without burning through a precious resource. While it provides nowhere near enough power to fuel an entire station, a secondary power supply can help keep the lights on until evac or a shard arrives after a engine delamination.

Location

Solars, as common sense would dictate, is located outside for access to the sun. While the location varies from station to station, solars are almost always attached to maintenance and a trip around the edge of the station will let you find all the solars easily enough. The obscure entrance to maintenance and location at the edge of the station makes this a common destination for odd sights, ranging from spaced corpses to odd visitors wearing a fancy red suit. Get solars wired up fast enough to the start of the shift, though, and you'll likely be finished before antagonistic forces get around to the place.

Connecting the Arrays

Suggested Equipment

Name	Practicality	Use	Procurement
MODSuit EVA Suit	Vital	Allows the user to spend a prolonged period of time in space. Solar maintenance can take some time so proper equipment is suggested. A firesuit and coffee will be enough for a brief trip though.	• Engineering EVA storage • EVA suit storage
Insulated Gloves	Vital	Prevents electrical shocks to the user while working with cables. Budget versions come with drawbacks. Engineers should always be equipped with a pair of these gloves if they value their health. The insulated mutation or a sip of grey bull can suffice; anything to stop the shock of connecting live wires will do.	• Engineering EVA Storage • Tool Storage • Maintenance • Protolathe
Cable Coils	Essential	To replace broken wiring between the solar panels and the control array	• Space near the array • Tool Storage • Engineering • Maintenance • Protolathe
Iron Rods	Essential	Placing catwalk sections to build wiring upon.	• Space near the array • Tool Storage • Engineering • Object Deconstruction
Crowbar	Helpful	In case the power is out.

Also helpful is:

• A large stack of metal, as some stations by default need repairs to the array. You can build new flooring by placing rods on space then applying a floor tile.

Nanotrasen engineers are renowned for their shoddy craftsmanship and poor work ethic. You will find that none of the four solar arrays have been connected to the station. You will need to connect the solar panels and the solar tracker to the wire leading from the station. Simply connect all the panels and trackers to the computer with wire, making sure the wires go under each individual panel's tile. Annoyingly, some Nanotrasen engineers are especially renowned for their poor work ethic and as such occasionally the solar panels are still in their box. In such a situation, you'll need to drop a solar panel frame from the box onto a tile, wrench it down, then apply glass. You can also do this for purchased boxes of solar panels, and some space ruins have boxes of solars just waiting to be wired up. Make sure to use the computer and scan for new equipment after attaching additional parts to the array!

Calibrating the Arrays

Once you have wired an array, you need to calibrate the tracking and power so that it actually produces energy. Apparently, our space station is rotating or in orbit around something (no one really knows for sure). This means that the solar panels need to constantly rotate to face toward the sun. Click on the Solar Control CPU and set it to auto-tracking. You should see a degree displayed at the top ranging from 0 to 359; this is the current direction of the sun.

(The consoles are a bit glitchy so you might have to turn off auto-tracking then turn it on again before the panels start to rotate). Note that auto rotation is not smooth, it jumps about every 20 seconds. Keep this in mind if it seems like nothing is happening.

You don't need to use manual tracking!! The only time you will ever need to manually calibrate a solar array is when a meteor or traitor destroys the tracking unit. When manually adjusting the angle, just keep adjusting towards the highest power you can find.

It is important to note that THE SUN ISN'T ALWAYS VISIBLE! This is the biggest cause of solar failure known to spessmen. When the panels of an array face the sun directly (and are correctly wired) they produce about 90,000 Watts of power. However, this amount lowers as the station orbits or spins or whatever towards 0 watts. This cycle takes about 5 minutes, and poor timing can cause a poor innocent engineer to think that they messed up their design, "Because it's making 0 watts! Clearly it must be broken!" Just give it a bit and you'll figure out if it is broken.

Why is this important?

Because of the battery! See that big white thing in the solar control room? That's the SMES cell. It's a battery used for holding solar energy and transferring it to the station. Click on the battery and you get a window with input, output, and charging options.

Important Battery Facts

Solar batteries (SMES cells) start at 20% power but if the engine is off the station drains them to 0% in a few minutes. An input of 90,000 watts (full sun) might charge the battery for a little while, but once the sunlight is blocked by the station the battery charge may begin to drain.

(Optional) Skipping the SMES Cells

You can optionally reroute the wiring and skip the whole battery setup! This is only really useful if you have severely increased the size of the solar array or don't want a meddling AI messing with the incoming power as easily. Just recognize two wires: The wire coming from the Solar Control computer and going to the SMES cell, and the other wire coming from the SMES cell and going to the station power grid. Connect these two wires and voilá! You have skipped the SMES cell. No need to turn that pesky SMES on at all, just configure the Solar Control computer and you're done, time to move to the next set of solars! You've also just disconnected a battery, so good luck keeping power if a delamination wipes out the SMES in engineering.

Setting up the SMES

After you have wired the array, set tracking to auto, and verified that the panels are indeed rotating, set the battery like so:

Charging: Auto

Input: Maxed at 200 kW

Output: 0-200 kW

Setting the output lower means more power is stored, but once you go above 45kw you will begin to send out more power than you store. At that point, you may as well disconnect the SMES from the solar array.

DANGER WILL ROBINSON

There are a few dangers on the solars, one being the electrical wires if you forgot to wear insulated gloves: never forget or you will get zapped! In addition, you are vulnerable and alone. This leaves you an easy target for those pesky space carps and/or space-walking attackers that need a new cover identity. Finally, there is the chance to misstep and go drifting off through space. This hazard is easily solved if you act quickly. Simply throw something in the direction of your flight path, like shoes, or a pen. The equal and opposite reaction will start pushing you in the other direction! Of course, if you are a ne'er-do-well, solars serve as a useful tool. A hotwired solar can boost the power of a hacked door, and the access to and from maintenance means that a body could easily be lost amongst the stars. Just avoid the camera that is placed in most solar rooms, and you have a base of operations set up and ready for the taking! If you got spaced by an aforementioned evildoer, your life isn't over. Look over what you have and consider your options. Turn on internals, pull up a winter coat hood, drink coffee, and take any medicine you have. If you can live long enough, circle the station for arrivals or departures so that you can enter. You can always try to yell for help over the radio, and the AI camera in the maintenance connection room means they can open a path in. All else failing, try to break into the maintenance room or inject your epinepherine pen (if present) and pray someone finds your corpse before it husks.

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Locations on the Station
General	Service	Medical	Supply	Research	Engineering	Security	Command	Upkeep
Arrivals Art Storage Auxiliary Tool Storage Emergency Storage Escape Pods Escape Shuttle Hallway Garden Primary Tool Storage	Bar Chapel Dormitory Holodeck Hydroponics Kitchen and Freezer Library Locker Room Theatre Service Hallway	Medbay Chemistry Lab Chief Medical Officer's Office Medbay Storage Morgue Operating Theatre Patient Room Recovery Room Virology Psychology Office Coroner Office	Supplies Cargo Bay Cargo Office Delivery Office Drone Bay Mining Dock Bitrunning Den Quartermaster's Office	Research Division Experimental Lab Genetics Research and Development Lab Research Director's Office Robotics Lab Server Room Ordnance Lab Ordnance Test Chamber Testing Lab Xenobiology Lab	Engineering Atmospherics Auxilliary Base Construction Chief Engineer's Office Construction Area Electrical Maintenance Gravity Generator Room Solars Supermatter Engine Technical Storage Telecommunications Vacant Office Vacant Office B	Armory Brig Courtroom Detective's Office Interrogation Head of Security's Office Law Office Prison Wing Labor Camp Security Office Security Posts Warden's Office	AI Satellite AI Upload Bridge Captain's Quarters Conference Room E.V.A. Gateway Head of Personnel's Office Teleporter Vault Corporate Showroom	Custodial Closet Incinerator Maintenance Waste Disposal Counterfeit Robotics Lab

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Notable Offstation Locations
Mining	Space
Lavaland Icemoon Mining Station Labor Camp	Escape Shuttle Space Space Ruins Abandoned Satellite Central Command Derelict White Ship Charlie Station

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