Algae Farm

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Algae Farm
Icon Block Algae Farm.png
Category: Production
Function: The Algae Farm uses sunlight to cultivate algae for use in food production
DLC? Vanilla
Fits large grid
Mass: 1862.0 kg
Hitpoints: 7960
Power: -0.2 kW
PCU: 25
Size: 3x1x1
Time to Build: 30 sec
Data Controls: [purge] (?))

An Algae Farm is the introductory block of the food production system.

The Icon Block Half Algae Farm.png Half Algae Farm is a visual variant from the paid Apex Survival Pack DLC; the difference is its flatter form and the back position of its one conveyor port.

Usage

This block produces Algae, a basic food ingredient for crafting at first Meal Pack (Kelp Crisp) and later, a few other advanced Meal Packs.

The farm produces items slowly over time while exposed to sunlight. Paired with the Survival Kit (which can craft Kelp Crisps), the Algae Farm is your first independent food source in space and on life-unfriendly planets.

Gallery

A solar algae farm that uses a CTC to track the sun. Not visible but needed is a Camera block facing the sun.

Construction

If progression is on, building the Algae Farm is available from the start and it unlocks the Food Processor.

This large-grid-only block functions only when constructed in a place where it is exposed to sunlight.

The standard Algae Farm has one conveyor port and requires a connection to the conveyor system to send the produced Algae to a cargo container, Survival Kit, or Food Processor. It is 3x1x1 large-grid blocks in size and it has mount points on five sides of one end.

The DLC variant Icon Block Half Algae Farm.png Half Algae Farm is flat, 1x3x1 large blocks in size, and has one conveyor port in the middle of the backside. It has mount points on all sides, except for the whole front, where it needs to be exposed to sunlight.

Optimally, rotate each block so that the glass faces the sun most of the time. When the metal frame faces the sun, the production is possible but limited.

Tip: On planets and in space stations, if you have the time and components, build the Algae Farm on the same array as your Oxygen Farms and Solar Panels. Add a camera block to the front of the array. Then set up a Custom Turret Controller (CTC) to align the array to follow the sun. The farms and solar panels will gain the same optimal solar exposure benefits. But in a pinch, or if it's day 1, these blocks also work without the CTC alignment, just less efficient.

Amount of Farms needed per engineer

The Algae Farm produces 1 Algae every 2 minutes under optimal sun exposure, and 4 Algae are needed to craft a single Meal Pack (Kelp Crisp), which has a fill value of 12%. This means a single Algae Farm with optimal sun exposure produces enough Algae for 7.5 Crisps (90% hunger fill) per hour.

However, this requires solar tracking to optimize sun exposure angle, and if placed on a planet, Algae Farms will have at most 50% exposure time to optimal sunlight even with solar tracking. Thus how many Algae Farms are required per engineer depends on the world's hunger setting and whether the farm is placed on a planet or not:

  • On "Slow" hunger (180 minutes to starve), 0.37 Algae Farms are required per engineer in space (one farm feeds 2.7 engineers), and 0.74 farms per engineer on a planet.
  • On "Moderate" hunger (90 minutes), 0.74 Algae Farms per engineer in space, and 1.48 per engineer on a planet.
  • On "Fast" hunger (45 minutes), 1.48 farms per engineer in space, and 2.96 per engineer on a planet.

Periods of shadow on the farms, or less effective solar tracking, will increased these ratios, potentially substantially. Algae Farms placed on a fixed grid without solar tracking will be dramatically less effective, requiring substantially more farms per engineer compared to the above ratios.

Recipe

Icon Block Algae Farm.png Algae Farm
ComponentLarge Ship/Station
Required		Large Ship/Station
Optional		Small Ship
Required		Small Ship
Optional
Icon Item Steel Plate.png Steel Plate30———
Icon Item Small Steel Tube.png Small Steel Tube30———
Icon Item Construction Comp..png Construction Comp.30———
Icon Item Computer.png Computer10———
Icon Item Bulletproof Glass.png Bulletproof Glass4020——


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