Power

Power (also commonly referred to as Energy) is, along with Oxygen, one of an Astroneer's vital resources. A steady supply of power is necessary to drive Vehicles, operate various Modules, and utilize the Terrain Tool while it has augments installed.

Throughout the game, power is represented by a bright yellow color.

File:Backpack new.png

The vertical yellow bar in the center of the backpack is your Power supply.

Unit of Measurement

• Power can be stored in Batteries, the capacity of which is visually represented by bright yellow cylinders called columns. Each of these columns is in turn divided into stacked segments called bars.
• Power storage is measured in Units (abbreviated as "U"), whereas power flow is measured in U/s (Units per second). One Small Battery, for example, can charge or discharge up to exactly 1U/s, which reads as 1.00 in a Splitter.
• All machines have specific input and output values, which are typically round numbers. Most machines operate at a reduced speed when given less power than requested.
• It takes precisely one second to deplete a single Unit of storage at a rate of 1U/s.
• Platforms, cables, and extenders do not appear to have any significant throughput limit.

Size Measurement

• 1 Medium Battery = 256 Units; Each of its 16 columns hold 16 Units; each column is equal in storage to 4 bars on a Small Battery.
• 1 Small Battery = 32 Units; Each visible bar holds 4 Units.
• 1 Power Cell = 48 Units.

Acquiring Power

Generating

The most common and consistent method of acquiring power is by generating it. Power can be generated by Solar Panels exposed to natural light, Wind Turbines exposed to windy weather, generators fueled with Resources, or an RTG. Attaching one of these power sources to an object capable of using power will automatically stream power to it, allowing it to run. If the power generated exceeds the amount of power consumed by producers of power, excess power will flow to any networked batteries in need of charging. (See more below)

Crafting

Once an Astroneer has researched Power Cells, they can be created using the backpack's 3D printer. Once depleted, Power Cells evaporate automatically. Power cells are created fully charged instantly and are helpful in use with small vehicles as a space-efficient automatic power source that is mobile and requires no generator.

List of Power Producers

The following table lists all available power sources and the rate at which they produce power.

Item	Flow Rate	Duration	Notes
Shelter	1.0U/s	Indefinite	Habitat appears to have a maximum throughput of 32U/s
Field Shelter	0.5U/s	Indefinite
Small Solar Panel	0.5U/s	With Sunlight	The amount of power generated varies depending on the planet's sun level: Very Low: 0.12U/s, Low: 0.25U/s, Medium: 0.5U/s, High: 0.75U/s, Very High: 0.88U/s
Medium Solar Panel	2.0U/s	With Sunlight	The amount of power generated varies depending on the planet's sun level: Very Low: 0.5U/s, Low: 1U/s, Medium: 2U/s, High: 3U/s, Very High: 3.5U/s
Solar Array	8.0U/s	With Sunlight	The amount of power generated varies depending on the planet's sun level: Very Low: 2U/s, Low: 4U/s, Medium: 8U/s, High: 12U/s, Very High: 14U/s
Wrecked Solar Array	3.0U/s	With Sunlight	Found on planets as part of spaceship wreckage. The amount of power generated varies depending on the planet's sun level Very Low: 0.75U/s, Low: 1.5U/s, Medium: 3U/s, High: 4.5U/s, Very High: 5.25U/s
Small Wind Turbine	0.5U/s (on Sylva)	While Windy	Produces power from the wind, the amount determined on the wind rating of the planet and not on turbine speed.
Medium Wind Turbine	1.0U/s (on Sylva)	While Windy	Produces power from the wind, the amount determined on the wind rating of the planet and not on turbine speed.
Small Generator	1.0U/s	100 Seconds	Consumes Organic to run. Can be shut off manually and turned back on without losing Organic. 1 Organic can produce 100 Units over 100 seconds.
Medium Generator	3.0U/s	100 Seconds	Consumes Carbon to run. Can be shut off manually and turned back on without losing Carbon. 1 Carbon can produce 300 Units over 100 seconds.
RTG	4.0U/s	Indefinite	Provides constant power
Power Cells	1.0U/s	Until Depleted	Destroyed when depleted. Produces 48 Units.
Shuttles	0.1U/s	Indefinite	Although they produce power, they are not a reliable source due to speed and no connectors

Storing Power

Item	Capacity	Throughput	Active Consumption
Backpack	10 Units	1.0U/s†
Small Battery	32 Units	1.0U/s
Medium Battery	256 Units	3.0U/s
Large Rover	16 Units	1.0U/s	1.0U/s
Medium Rover	8 Units	1.0U/s	0.5U/s
Buggy	4 Units	1.0U/s	0.031U/s
Tractor	4 Units	1.0U/s	0.075U/s

^† This refers only to charging speed. The backpack cannot transfer power outwardly, nor can small batteries in the player′s inventory.

Using Power

Power is used, or consumed, in various ways. The current ways that power is used are:

• Crafting via the player's Backpack or Printers
• Operations of base Modules
• Driving Vehicles
• Using the Terrain Tool when Augments are installed on it
• Charging Gateway Chambers
• Charging or powering EXO Dynamics Research Aids

Modules

Modules that require power only consume it while they are running. When idle they consume no power, but still require to be hooked up to a source of power before the player can activate them. Modules have a consumption of power needed to run at full speed, if the power produced is less than what is consumed, the module will run slower than normal. If no power is being fed to them, they will completely cease all function and will not resume until power is restored.

List of Power Consumers

The following is a table of power consumers and the rate at which they consume power to run at maximum speed.

Item	Consumption Rate	Power Consumed	Notes
Backpack Battery	1.0U/s	2.5 Units	Highest priority of all consumers, will override any other power requests to fulfill its consumption demands.
Backpack Printer	0.625U/s	2.5 Units	Cannot work when Backpack Battery doesn't have enough power
Small Printer	1.0U/s	Varies	Consumption depends on the number of Resource nuggets consumed, 6.67 Units each.
Medium Printer	2.0U/s	Varies	Consumption depends on the number of Resource nuggets consumed, 20 Units each.
Large Printer	3.0U/s	Varies	Consumption depends on the number of Resource nuggets consumed, 120 Units each.
Research Chamber	2.0U/s	N/A	Total consumption depends on the minimum amount of time on the research sample.
Smelting Furnace	3.0U/s	45 Units	Value per ingot smelted, which takes 15 seconds per ingot.
Soil Centrifuge	4.0U/s	121.5 Units	This consumption value is the same regardless of how many items the machine produces.
Chemistry Lab	3.0U/s	30 Units
Atmospheric Condenser	6.0U/s	Varies	Per 1/5th gas canister: 60 Units at 100PPU, 80 Units at 75PPU, 120 Units at 50PPU, and 240 Units at 25PPU
Auto Arm	1.0U/s	N/A	Always consumes power when on, regardless of whether or not there is anything to move.
Auto Extractor	8.0U/s	N/A
Medium Shredder	1.5U/s	N/A	Consumes fewer bars per scrap when run at less than maximum speed.
Large Shredder	3.0U/s	N/A	Consumes fewer bars per scrap when run at less than maximum speed.
Extra Large Shredder	3.0U/s	N/A	Consumes fewer bars per scrap when run at less than maximum speed.
Medium Rover	0.5U/s	N/A	Energy is spent only while buttons are pressed to control the rover, constant 0.5U/s while held. 16 seconds drive time.
Large Rover	1.0U/s	N/A	Energy is spent only while buttons are pressed to control the rover, constant 1.0U/s while held. 16 seconds drive time.
Buggy	0.031U/s	N/A	Energy is spent only while buttons are pressed to control the rover, constant 0.031U/s while held. 130 seconds drive time
Tractor	0.075U/s	N/A	Energy is spent only while buttons are pressed to control the rover, constant 0.075U/s while held. 53.5 seconds drive time
Inhibitor Mod	0.2U/s	N/A
Boost Mod	0.75U/s	N/A
Narrow Mod	0.5U/s	N/A
Wide Mod	0.5U/s	N/A
Alignment Mod	0.5U/s	N/A
Terrain Analyzer	0.5U/s	N/A
Drill Mod 1	0.25U/s	N/A
Drill Mod 2	0.5U/s	N/A
Drill Mod 3	0.75U/s	N/A
Drill Strength 1	1.0U/s	N/A
Drill Strength 2	1.0U/s	N/A
Drill Strength 3	1.0U/s	N/A
Paver	1.0U/s	N/A
Worklight	N/A	N/A	Does not actually draw any power, but requires being hooked up to a valid source of production or storage to light up.
Portable Oxygenator	1.35U/s	10 Units	Fills an entire O2 tank every 7.5 seconds, and consumes 10 Units per O2 tank filled.

Each Gateway Chamber also requires sustained charging over a period of 30 seconds.

Planet	Consumption Rate
Sylva	5U/s
Desolo	8U/s
Calidor	12U/s
Vesania	16U/s
Novus	21U/s
Glacio	26U/s
Atrox	30U/s

Power Cables and Networks

As an Astroneer adds base modules connecting to their initial Shelter, the flat cabling that connects them creates a network, across which power can flow. How this power flows depends on which type of cable the connections are made of.

Currently the two types of cables are:

• Network cables are long flat cables that light up yellow to indicate how much power is flowing through it. Their coloring changes in width according to the proportion of power being produced versus power being demanded. In situations where both supply and demand are zero, cables will go entirely dark. If supply is zero and demand is non-zero, network cables will flash red.
• Directional cables have yellow chevrons running along their length in the direction power is flowing. Relative chevron width is determined by the amount of current passing through. They can be used to separate one network from another, since they only allow power to flow through them in one direction. If there isn't enough power to meet all demand in the host network behind the chevrons, the cable will power down temporarily and stop sending power. Directional cables are made when connecting cables via other means than standard platforms, such as with Extenders, Splitters, or Vehicles.

Power Networks

Network cables are created by directly connecting Platforms to each other or to the Habitat. When connected with network cables, they share the same power network, meaning any power produced, stored, or brought in via directional cables is evenly split among any and all consumers of power within that network.

In addition to power, Power cables also carry Oxygen to other platforms.

Tethers do not carry power except in one specific way: They can feed an Astroneer's backpack, with no distance limit. Theoretically, one can craft a Small Battery, charge it with the Tethers, and place the battery onto a platform, but this is more resource consuming.

Power Gauges

All cables display their current available energy compared to the amount of energy being demanded on both internal network cables and side power gauges located on every port on every type of platform.

A gauge starts out fully dark, and will fill up depending on the current production and demand. The lower half is reserved for the current demand on the network, and the upper half is reserved for any excess you are producing. As seen below in the images, red in the lower half indicates you are not currently producing enough, with the yellow bar indicating by how much.

These Unit sums are just for example; you can multiply them and the gauges will read the same results.

	(0U/s Demand, 0U/s Produced) This platform is likely not plugged into anything, or whatever connects it to a power source has been unplugged. This can occasionally happen in isolated networks if no machines are turned on or working, and no widgets or devices are producing power. This is the only situation where connecting cables will remain dark and unpowered.
	(>0U/s Demand, 0U/s Produced) Something attached to this platform is demanding power, but nothing is available to provide it. Most often this only happens because Astroneer backpacks suck up power before machines can grab it, causing them to see nothing at all. If not however, this just means the machine or platform cannot find any power-producing widgets or devices. This is the only situation where connecting cables will color themselves red.
	(2U/s Demand, 1U/s Produced) -- (or any 2:1 ratio) Something is generating power, but only half as much as is being asked for. This often isn't a symptom of a problem, but simply most generators don't produce the 3U/s that many modules ask for, leading to unequal demand. For example, Small Generators only produce 1U/s each, and Small Solar and Small Wind Turbines only make 0.5U/s each. A Soil Centrifuge demands 3U/s power, and a Research Chamber demands 2U/s.
	(1U/s Demand, 1U/s Produced) -- (or any 1:1 ratio) All power that is being demanded is being satisfied perfectly, with no extra whatsoever. This is actually fairly uncommon, and any network with Batteries will appear to have extra supply even if they aren't being utilized.
	(2U/s Demand, 3U/s Produced) -- (or any 2:3 ratio) All demand is being satisfied, and a specific proportion of leftover power exists. This is the best time to turn off one or more organic or carbon generators to save energy if no batteries exist to absorb it. With a 0:>0 ratio, something is generating power, but nothing needs it.

Trivia

Before 1.0, Power nuggets used to be able to be harvested like other resources, commonly found around the previously yellow Popcoral.