Power fluctuations

Alrekr_IronhandAlrekr_Ironhand New Hampshire, US Join Date: 2016-03-22 Member: 214677Members
in Subnautica General Discussion
So this is something I've been noticing for a while.

As usual, I've constructed my first base on the edge of the safe shallows — this time, on the edge of the eastward drop-off. My base is at about 60m depth, and I have 12 solar panels on the roof to provide power. 12 solar panels provides 600 ... something. Power units. Kilowatts, let's say, just to put a label on it.
The thing is, naturally my actual power storage quantity fluctuates as I use and produce power. But so does the total. It fluctuates almost constantly between 550, 575 and 600. One moment, I have 428/600. A few seconds later, I have 439/550. Then 445/600. Then 448/575. Seems like the game can't quite decide how many solar panels I actually have, or perhaps two of the 12 are cutting in and out at random.

Is this a known issue?
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Comments

  • TenebrousNovaTenebrousNova England Join Date: 2015-12-23 Member: 210206Members
    I'd be interested to see the answer to this, too. Could it be because of the depth?
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  • DrownedOutDrownedOut Habitat Join Date: 2016-05-26 Member: 217559Members
    It's a known issue. I don't know the details, but I do know this goes for all power sources. I always presumed it had something to do with storage, like if you use up the amount of energy equal to the storage capacity of a solar cell, it will drop from the total until it refills somewhat.
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  • HYBRID1313HYBRID1313 Australia Join Date: 2016-04-01 Member: 215179Members
    Could it be that some of the panels are partially in shade or maybe the amount of sun that they are receiving?
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  • Alrekr_IronhandAlrekr_Ironhand New Hampshire, US Join Date: 2016-03-22 Member: 214677Members
    If it were a shade issue, then your total capacity would drop to 0 at night.
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  • MerandixMerandix Netherlands Join Date: 2016-01-05 Member: 210951Members
    A solar panel only produces power when it is day. If its storage capacity is out, and it is night, that solar panel is no longer recognised as part of the base. Also note it actually loses connection at night. Looking at this from a logical point of view, it likely means that the code is built up so that the solar panel producing power is trying to find a place to send that power... your base. If it runs out of stored power, and it is not producing any power, it effectively ceases to be a solar panel until it starts producing power again. As long as there's power in the panel, the code will look for a connection. It stops looking when there's nothing left in the code.

    Second bug at play here, 12 solar panels actually can only store 300 power. When you place panels on the roof of your base, somehow all numbers double.

    A single solar panel can store 25 power.
    When placed on top of a base, it can store 50 power, but all consumption is also doubled.

    (note, also, solar panels seem to connect to whatever is INSIDE a base with me, not to the base itself).
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  • QelsarQelsar Lansdowne, MD Join Date: 2016-05-09 Member: 216536Members
    I have noticed that change for quite some time. I think it correlates to the usage of base components. IE - Water Filtration and Spotlight. One base I had only had the filtration system and when it was full 2x Salt/Water then the power would no longer fluctuate.
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  • DrownedOutDrownedOut Habitat Join Date: 2016-05-26 Member: 217559Members
    Qelsar wrote: »
    I have noticed that change for quite some time. I think it correlates to the usage of base components. IE - Water Filtration and Spotlight. One base I had only had the filtration system and when it was full 2x Salt/Water then the power would no longer fluctuate.

    Based on Mirandix's and my words, that would be because the water filtration machine and spotlight drain energy. The WFM stops draining energy when its storage space is filled because it stops producing. That way, it will not take energy from the solar panels and the solar panels will remain filled, thereby remaining registered by the base.
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  • OculusOculus ger Join Date: 2016-01-30 Member: 212360Members
    I think this is a bug at the connection between the Power source and the Base. The connection seems to be a bit unstable and the game doesnt really acknowledge the conection to (some) single power source(s) sometimes.

    So if you loose the connection to a solar panel that has 50/50 you go from 550/600 down to 500/550, if it's one that has 0/50 you go down to 550/550, or if it's maybe one with 25/50 you end up with 525/550... and so on.
    If you loose multiple cells at the same time you loose the combinated amount of them.
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