Summary
Solar Sails are consumable items required for the creation of dyson swarms. They are used in the EM Rail Ejector to launch them into orbit around a star. The energy collected by Solar Sails can only be collected using a Ray Receiver.
Solar Sails have a limited lifespan of 1800s. This can be upgraded to up to 3600s by researching Solar Sail Life.
The energy generated by a solar sail depends on the star luminosity. Unlike real life, the energy generated does not depend on the distance to the star. With a star luminosity of 1, a single Solar Sail generates 36 kW.
A single EM-Rail Ejector firing continuously can maintain a maximum of 600 Solar Sails in orbit with their default lifespan of 1800s. With the default luminosity of 1, this will generate 21.6 MW.
Production Chain
| Recipe | Building | Replicator? | Technology |
|---|
2x Solar Sail
- = 1x Graphene (recipes make 2)
- = 3x Energetic Graphite
- = 6x Coal Ore
- + 1x Sulfuric Acid (Recipe makes 4)
- = 8x Stone Ore
- + 4x Water
- + 6x Refined Oil
- = 6x Crude Oil (extra: 3x Hydrogen)
- = 3x Energetic Graphite
- - or -
- = 1x Graphene (recipes make 2)
- = 2x Fire Ice (extra: 1x Hydrogen)
- + 1x Photon Combiner
- = 2x Prism
- = 3x Glass
- = 6x Stone Ore
- = 3x Glass
- + 1x Circuit Board (Recipe makes 2)
- = 2x Iron Ingot
- = 2x Iron Ore
- + 1x Copper Ingot
- = 1x Copper Ore
- = 2x Iron Ingot
Total Raw Materials
- 1x Copper Ore
- 2x Iron Ore
- 6x Stone Ore
And EITHER:
- 2x Fire Ice
OR:
- 6x Crude Oil
- 8x (more) Stone Ore
- 4x Water
Note: Unbalanced. If taking sulfuric acid route, you'll have 3x excess sulfuric acid, 3x excess hydrogen, and 1x excess circuit board from making a single run of 2x solar sails.
Player Tips & Tricks
Since Solar Sails have a limited lifespan, the power production of a dyson swarm is dependent on the supply of new Solar Sails into orbit. If you stop producing or launching solar sails, the swarm's power generation will decrease as sails expire, until it reaches 0.