| Battery | |
|---|---|
| |
| Category: | Energy Source/Storage |
| Status: | Functional |
| Function: | |
| Stores power for later use. | |
| Fits small ship | |
| Mass: | 1,040 kg |
| Capacity: | 1.08 MWh |
| Power: | 4.32 MW |
| Fits large ship and station | |
| Mass: | 4,845 kg |
| Capacity: | 3 MWh |
| Power: | 12 MW |
| Data Controls: | [edit] [purge] (?) |
The Battery is a power block introduced in Update 01.039 which stores power from Reactors, Solar Panels, and Wind Turbines for later use. The Small Battery variant has the same usage as described here.
Immediately after construction, the battery will contain 30% of its capacity, ready to be used by other blocks. When grinding down a battery, the necessary Power Cell components will become Scrap Metal. This means you cannot gain infinite power anymore by simply grinding and rewelding batteries repeatedly -- you “pay” for the free partial charge in Power Cells.
Construction[]
Batteries exist for small grids in 3x3x2 small blocks size, which makes them quite unwieldy. For a tiny 1x1x1 Battery variant, see Small Battery. On large grids, Batteries take up 1x1x1 large blocks of space.
Batteries can attach to other blocks on any of their six sides. No attachment to any "cables" or ports is needed. Some block faces display a charge indicator, so when placing them, consider whether you want to rotate the block for coloured lights to be visible or not.
Batteries are the densest block in game, they have very high mass for their small volume. This means you cannot give a mobile grid "infinite power" by simply building a wall of batteries, because the increased mass will make it too sluggish. Lower the power needs by building specialised mobile grids instead of a "jack of all trades".
What does Recharge/Auto/Discharge mean?[]
You expected a battery to provide power, but your ship dropped like a rock? You expected the batteries to recharge after docking, but they didn’t? You wanted
Check your settings in the Control Panel Screen or add Battery status and actions to your toolbar!
- Automatic: The battery charges itself if there is excess power on the ship, and discharges (provides power) if a block needs it.
- This is the recommended default.
- Choose Automatic if your ship has several batteries to charge from Wind/Solar/Reactor or from a base.
- Recharge: The battery actively draws power from other power sources including other batteries. The battery stops providing power.
- Use Recharge to drain another battery before dismantling it. Transfer of power between batteries is lossy!
- Make sure you're safely docked, because batteries on Recharge will not provide energy to thrusters.
- Use Recharge to build up charge from Solar/Wind/Reactors in a backup battery.
- Discharge: The battery provides power to other blocks and stops trying to recharge itself.
- Use this to drain a battery that you want to leave behind or dismantle.
- If there are several batteries on one ship, toggle Discharge/Auto to prevent them from drawing power from each other.
Important: Power transfer between several batteries using Recharge is lossy!
Note: In Creative Mode, a battery has infinite charge, but still limited throughput. If a grid exceeds its power bandwidth, you still need to add several batteries, even in Creative Mode.
Color of Charge indicators[]
- If the indicators are green, the battery is providing power.
- If it's orange, it is drawing power to recharge itself.
- If it's blue, it is only powering up other blocks, and wont accept power.
The number how many of the indicator lights are lit and unlit represents the charge percentage.
Weight Comparison[]
When providing power, batteries are more efficient in terms of mass than Small Reactors on small ships, but they're only 80% as efficient as reactors in terms of power generated per volume in comparison.
However, in contrast to reactors and hydrogen engines, batteries have the advantage of not requiring a conveyor system to feed them uranium, and as such, they can be fitted in spaces not connected to conveyor systems, or be used for short trips, possibly equaling/surpassing the power density of a conveyored reactor when used in large banks.
A fully discharged battery is just dead weight until it can be recharged using another power source. This means that large banks of batteries are not the optimal solution for long distance travel. If the battery is only needed to power a drone or shuttle for 15 minutes or less, the battery's life (and power per weight ratio) is sufficient and you can disregard the dead weight issue.
Efficiency Comparison[]
Given that each kilogram of Uranium ingots generates 1 MWh of power in a reactor, one full charge on a small battery is roughly equal to 0.36 ingots and on a large battery about 1 ingot. However, recharging batteries with reactors only has a 80% efficiency, meaning you'll need somewhat more uranium to recharge batteries than to fuel a reactor.
Other power producing blocks (solar panels, wind turbines) don't lose efficiency when recharging batteries. So the optimal use for Batteries is when you have solar panels or wind turbines to charge them, otherwise it's a waste of uranium.
When providing power, batteries are given medium priority. Grids draw power first from solar panels and wind mills, then second from batteries. Reactors are only used if the output of the higher priority options is not sufficient, in order to conserve their uranium fuel.
Transferring power from one Battery to another is possible but inefficient (lossy), so don't do it too often. For example, it makes sense to transfer the power out of a wreck that you are about to grind down knowing you will lose 20% of the wreck's charge in the process. But don't set up Timer blocks to discharge and recharge batteries in docked ships on the regular.
Recipe[]
 Battery | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Component | Large Ship/Station Required | Large Ship/Station Optional | Small Ship Required | Small Ship Optional |
 Computer | 25 | — | 2 | — |
 Power Cell | 80 | — | 20 | — |
 Construction Comp. | 10 | 20 | 2 | 3 |
 Steel Plate | 20 | 60 | 5 | 20 |
Trivia[]
When a rover has flipped in Survival Mode, there are different approaches to turn it right side up again: One is to shift the Center of Mass by building a long temporary stalk of (unwelded) blocks until the vehicle topples back to the other side, and then grind the stalk off. Due to their high density and compact size, unwelded Batteries are the block of choice for this solution.
