Power

Power is a mechanic used by Habs to represent the necessary electrical power for operating the hab's modules. It can come from solar panels, fission reactors, or (after Deuterium-Tritium Fusion is researched) fusion reactors.

Mechanics

A hab may only ever have operate modules if it has enough power to run those modules. Otherwise, the modules are disabled. The player may choose to de-power modules manually (subject to the limits on prioritized modules, below), and to re-power modules that have been turned off if there is enough power. If there is not enough power to run everything, the game will shut down modules until the power balance is no longer negative.

Prioritized Modules

To prevent players abusing the power system for advantage, certain modules cannot be de-activated manually. These are listed in the Hab Module List as "Cannot Depower". Those modules are:

• Certain campaign modules: Sentinel Complex and Deep Space Telescope
• Ship supply facilities: Supply Depot, Space Dock, Shipyard, and Spaceworks
• Farms: Hydroponics Bay, Farm, and Agriculture Complex
• Defensive installations: Point Defense Array, Layered Defense Array, and Battlestations
• Marine barracks: Marine Platoon Barracks, Marine Company Barracks, and Marine Battalion Barracks
• Helium-3 Mine

Sources of Power

Tier 1		Tier 2		Tier 3
Module	Effects	Module	Effects	Module	Effects
Solar Collector*	Build cost: 0.3 1.13 0.08 30 Days Monthly expenses: 1 1 Crew Monthly income: 20 Special Rule: Power scales with proximity to Sun.	Solar Array	Build cost: 1.5 5.63 0.38 60 Days Monthly expenses: 3 5 Crew Monthly income: 80 Special Rule: Power scales with proximity to Sun.	Solar Farm	Build cost: 12 45 3 90 Days Monthly expenses: 5 25 Crew Monthly income: 240 Special Rule: Power scales with proximity to Sun.
Fission Pile*	Build cost: 0.2 0.4 1.1 0.2 0.1 30 Days Monthly expenses: 2 0.5 0.25 0.05 4 Crew Monthly income: 20 Special Rule:	Fission Reactor Array	Build cost: 1 2 5.5 1 0.5 90 Days Monthly expenses: 6 2 1 0.2 20 Crew Monthly income: 85 Special Rule:	Fission Reactor Farm	Build cost: 8 16 44 8 4 180 Days Monthly expenses: 18 6 3 0.5 100 Crew Monthly income: 250 Special Rule:
Heavy Fission Pile	Build cost: 0.4 0.8 2 0.6 0.2 60 Days Monthly expenses: 3 0.5 0.25 0.075 4 Crew Monthly income: 30 Special Rule:	Heavy Fission Reactor Array	Build cost: 2 4 10 3 1 90 Days Monthly expenses: 8 2 1 0.3 20 Crew Monthly income: 128 Special Rule:	Heavy Fission Reactor Farm	Build cost: 16 32 80 24 8 180 Days Monthly expenses: 24 6 3 0.75 100 Crew Monthly income: 375 Special Rule:
Fusion Pile	Build cost: 0.3 0.45 1.29 0.9 0.06 30 Days Monthly expenses: 3 1 0.5 0.02 5 Crew Monthly income: 40 Special Rule:	Fusion Reactor Array	Build cost: 1.5 2.25 6.45 4.5 0.3 90 Days Monthly expenses: 10 3 2 0.05 25 Crew Monthly income: 170 Special Rule:	Fusion Reactor Farm	Build cost: 12 18 51.6 36 2.4 180 Days Monthly expenses: 30 10 6 0.1 125 Crew Monthly income: 500 Special Rule:
Heavy Fusion Pile	Build cost: 0.6 0.9 2.58 1.8 0.12 60 Days Monthly expenses: 5 1 0.5 0.1 0.1 0.02 10 Crew Monthly income: 70 Special Rule: If Faction is harvesting He3, then change Fissiles build cost and upkeep into Water.	Heavy Fusion Reactor Array	Build cost: 3 4.5 12.9 9 0.6 120 Days Monthly expenses: 12 3 2 0.5 0.5 0.08 50 Crew Monthly income: 300 Special Rule: If Faction is harvesting He3, then change Fissiles build cost and upkeep into Water.	Heavy Fusion Reactor Farm	Build cost: 24 36 103.2 72 4.8 240 Days Monthly expenses: 36 10 6 1 1 0.2 150 Crew Monthly income: 900 Special Rule: If Faction is harvesting He3, then change Fissiles build cost and upkeep into Water.

• exist in an automated version.

Solar Power Mechanics

Solar panels are based on the real-world physics of solar energy, so their power generation increases and decreases at a rate that is proportional to the onverse square of the distance to the Sun. They are also limited by the shadows cast by the body they are on/orbiting, so ground habs will get the least solar power, and space habs will get more as the orbits get higher.

Here is a selection of common hab locations, with their solar power production figures:

Location	Solar Multiplier	Power T1	Power T2	Power T3
Mercury Surface	334%	67	267	801
Mercury Low orbit	604%	121	483	1449
Mercury High orbit	641%	128	513	1538
Venus Low orbit	173%	35	138	415
Venus High orbit	190%	38	152	456
Earth Low orbit	76%	15	61	182
Earth High orbit	98%	19	78	234
Luna Surface	50%	10	40	120
Luna Low Orbit	78%	16	62	187
Luna High Orbit	98%	20	78	235
Mars Surface	16%	3	13	39
Mars Low orbit	33%	7	27	80
Mars High orbit	43%	9	34	102

For surface locations, power figures do not include any bonuses from solar mirrors.

Solar Mirrors

Solar panels on ground habs may also be enhanced by use of solar mirrors on orbital habs. The maximum power that can be produced is 160 per Solar Collector, 640 per Solar Array, and 1920 per Solar Farm, no matter how many mirrors are in use.

Module	Tier	Build Cost*	Monthly Upkeep	Special Rule
Solar Mirror	1	0.5 3.5 1 30 Days	1 0.1 0.03 1 1 Crew	Add 2 Power to all solar power modules, multiplied by solar module tier, for faction bases on the space body it orbits. Bonus also applies on a moon if the module is the L-1, L-4, or L-5 points between the moon and its parent planet. If placed in the L-1 point between a planet and the sun, the bonus applies to all bases in the planetary system. Mass increases based on distance from the Sun. Solar panels may produce a maximum of 8x their baseline maximum power value.
Solar Mirror Array	2	2.5 17.5 5 90 Days	5 1 0.1 4 5 Crew	Add 6 Power to all solar power modules, multiplied by solar module tier, for faction bases on the space body it orbits. Bonus also applies on a moon if the module is the L-1, L-4, or L-5 points between the moon and its parent planet. If placed in the L-1 point between a planet and the sun, the bonus applies to all bases in the planetary system. Mass increases based on distance from the Sun. Solar panels may produce a maximum of 8x their baseline maximum power value.
Soletta	3	20 140 40 180 Days	10 3 0.5 12 25 Crew	Add 12 Power to all solar power modules, multiplied by solar module tier, for faction bases on the space body it orbits. Bonus also applies on a moon if the module is the L-1, L-4, or L-5 points between the moon and its parent planet. If placed in the L-1 point between a planet and the sun, the bonus applies to all bases in the planetary system. Mass increases based on distance from the Sun. Solar panels may produce a maximum of 8x their baseline maximum power value.
Automated Solar Mirror	1	0.5 3.5 1 30 Days	1 0.1 0.03 1	Add 2 Power to all solar power modules, multiplied by solar module tier, for faction bases on the space body it orbits. Bonus also applies on a moon if the module is the L-1, L-4, or L-5 points between the moon and its parent planet. If placed in the L-1 point between a planet and the sun, the bonus applies to all bases in the planetary system. Mass increases based on distance from the Sun. Solar panels may produce a maximum of 8x their baseline maximum power value.

• Build cost scales with distance to the sun to model the fact that the mirrors need to be larger to collect the same amount of light. (Multiply all material costs by the distance in AU squared, so at Mars the multiplier is 2.3 and at Jupiter it's 27.)