Solar vs wind power

[Xav]

I find wind to be the more powerful and solar to be the more consistent.  Together they make a good team until geothermal is unlocked.

[LordMunchkin]

Not exactly well balanced as others have mentioned but I use both + geothermal and generators for redundancy.

[ChJees]

I find myself using wind a lot more than solar panels. Why? They provide a decent power output early on and is easy on components while working on night.

Maybe a smaller wind generator could be neat for those tight fits or skimping on your component budget even more early on .

What i really would like is more power generation types though. A bigger fuel generator or something that produce power comparable to a geothermal.

[Pushover]

For me, if I have a lot of space/am planning things out, I make a 32x20 tile power setup, where there are 4 wind turbines in a row, and 12 tiles away, facing the opposite direction, there are 4 other turbines. Filling in all the zones are a 2x5 grid of solar, or 3x5 for the middle.

Wind provides more power once you get closer to the poles, but is less reliable, although if you stick to solar, you can be more affected by random events (Eclipse and Volcanic Winter can drain your power)

If I am playing clos to the poles, I prefer to use pure wind power (until Geo), because Solar is so inefficient near the poles. Solar is nice near the equator, especially since with wind you either need to spend some time flooring the area around it, or deal with the random trees that grow.

I don't think there's much to 'balance' between them, since solar's use is heavily affected by longitude.

More power options would be great, currently there are the unreliable sources from Wind and Solar until you switch to the reliable Geothermal. The Fueled generator is somewhat forgotten since 1-2 batteries will solve your problems until Geothermal, even though you have Zzzt events, and some biomes cannot afford the wood upkeep.

If anything, you could nerf both, and provide a Chemfuel Generator that is actually worth using, that way you can use your worst colonists fuel as power.

[erdrik]

My biggest issue with wind is how finicky it is with placement and maintenance.
Which is admitably part of the trade off with solar.

To me its not that wind is worse per say, so much as solar is just more consistent and easier to deal with.
With solar:
You don't have to worry about trees, or placing floors to prevent tree growth.
The placement grid is a nice uniform square which is easier to plan for and build around.
Even with things like night time, and eclipses, the power output is just way more consistent.

For me wind makes for a nice backup to slow the drain when solar is down, but its inconstancy and requirements for placement and maintaining what little consistency it gets discourage me from using wind for more than that. Its not even a matter of its actual output, the extra work and inconstancy make it less appealing when compared to solar.

[christhekiller]

Personally I use solar almost exlusively until I can get to Geothermal up. I've never really been too fond of wind.

Granted I also kind of cheat and use a mod that reduces the energy requirements of lamps from 75 to 25, but still it's not terribly difficult to get to the point where I can rely on Geothermal power.

[lighthoof]

I usually use wind as it saves space in an early colony. It's hard to get a dedicated large area for turbines early on and combining wind with growing area has an enormous advantage over the amount of space solar needs.
I'm only working towards my first 30+ pawn colony, so not so used to designing huge grids for fully electrified high-population settlements

[talar1408]

Solar is usually reliable, but many incidents tamper with it. Wind is simply unreliable, so it can only supplement Solar (at least on Temperate maps that I usually play).
About 1 Solar + 1 Wind per battery is more than enough to keep uninterrupted flow, except for worst timed Eclipses and "Zzzzt" discharges.
Fueled generators are best option to cover for these (disconnectable battery banks are too micro-intensive and bring even more "Zzzzt").

But in the end both Solar and Wind are limited by batteries. Too many batteries and "Zzzzt" event (which will unavoidably plague my colony at least once a week) becomes potential Pawn instakill. My rule of a thumb is about 8 batteries max. Past that point expanding power base safely is possible only via Geothermals.

[Catastrophy]

I prefer wind, it's too many sun-blocking events to rely on solar too much.

[b0rsuk]

Solar is very reliable and uses relatively little space.

Wind requires batteries. There are no events like eclipse which completely shut it down. It doesn't seem to depend on geographic position (areas close to poles have reduced sunlight). Making space for wind turbines is awkward, but it's a good option in low vegetation biomes like ice sheet, tundra. Wind turbines need a soothing, dynamically changing turbine sound. Use Heroes of Might and Magic windmill sound as reference.

Note solar panels are sturdier, don't block movement and you can shoot over them.

Fueled generators are very good in cold wooded biomes, like boreal forest. You can keep them indoors and the heat produced is a bonus. Otherwise they're just backup.

[Andy_Dandy]

I'd love to see mechanics like sun panels being less efficient in shadow and also to see snow covering the panels (making them more challenging to use in colder biomes).

When it comes to the balance I use solar and wind ca 50/50. I find a mix very usefull to secure a fluent power supply. I might build some more solar panels then wind turbines in the long run, since they are alot easier to find place for (one reason it wouldn't hurt balance too much making them more vulnerable to snow and shadows. I'd certainly still build them in winter biomes too).

[carbon]

For the main power grid, using both equally has always seemed the optimal way to go for me. 4 solar and 4 wind turbines in an overlapped 24 x 11 area along with 2 batteries is typically plenty stable for the mid-to-late game (8 - 10 colonists) after which a geothermal gets hooked in and I have electricity to spare.

Note, I always separate off the grow lights to their own solar-only grid with an approximately 1 : 1.25 light to solar ratio (rounding up) and a battery. That's entirely for automated timing purposes, not because solar is inherently better overall.

[Andy_Dandy]

Note, I always separate off the grow lights to their own solar-only grid with an approximately 1 : 1.25 light to solar ratio (rounding up) and a battery. That's entirely for automated timing purposes, not because solar is inherently better.

For that specific purpose solar power is indeed inherently better.

[Domkrat282]

I prefer solar, but always out some turbines for eclipse. I think solars slightly OP, maybe power should be limited by height of the sun above the horizon and maybe clouds (of course with less eclipses). This may make game slightly harder but now solars really lack it.

[HazelThyme]

Personally I just get 1 solar, maybe a battery and rush for geothermal.