Energy Collector question

[Uncle Lumpy]

As the previous thread has segued into a discussion about Energy Collectors, I realize I'm uncertain how many are actually required. I thought a new thread would be more appropriate to ask about them.

I understand the general purpose and need for them. My question is how many do you actually need? I understand for them to function properly you need enough so that their output equals or exceeds your ship's static energy requirements. Is there any benefit to having more than that? Would having twice as many/level of output than your ship's static energy requirements be better IF your ship (or more likely, base) is parked very far out from a star?

[Aeson]

Typically, having enough energy collectors that (energy collection) >= (static energy requirement) is more than sufficient. If you want to power the base completely with energy collectors, add maximum weapon energy usage and shield recharge to that.

The Guide to Energy used to have a chart showing energy collection rates as a function of distance from the center of a system. If the system radius is R, then if I recall correctly, the chart showed power produced by energy collectors as equaling (energy collection) energy per second at a distance of 0.9R from the system center, dropping to about 0.5*(energy collection) energy per second at a distance of roughly 0.95R from the center of the system, etc. Just about every base you'll ever build is going to be less than 90% of the system radius away from the system center. Since the power produced by energy collectors appeared to be a linear function of distance from the center of the system, you could in theory reduce the total energy collection installed on bases which were intended to be built closer to the system center, but that can become a management nightmare. There's also a post by ?Elliot that suggests that the sum of the energy numbers you can see when you select the system have some kind of effect on the energy collection potential within that system, though I don't how this is reflected within the game.

In short, (energy collection) >= (power requirement) is the simplest rule of thumb and works in most situations. If you want to be very certain that your energy collection is sufficient, use a scale factor of X > 1 and get (energy collection) >= X*(power requirement).

[Uncle Lumpy]

Thanks, Aeson. Some where in the back of my mind, I recall reading in one of the threads a comment to the effect stating you should have double the Energy Collector output vs. your static energy requirement. I thought that was a bit excessive in light of how well most other systems in the game work.

[RemoteLeg]

That's it in a nutshell. So long as your energy collection is greater than your static energy use you're golden.

The only reason I add energy collectors is the ensure my static energy use does not bleed my fuel tanks dry. Of course a DW elite player might try to calculate energy collection to cover shields and weapon use also factoring in the distance from the star, but I doubt the average player goes this far.
Keep it simple and you'll be fine.

[Retreat1970]

calculate energy collection to cover shields and weapon use

Waste of time.