Wind Turbine
| Wind Turbine | |
|---|---|
| |
| Category: | Power |
| Function: | produces power in atmospheres |
| Fits large grid | |
| Mass: | 616.4 kg |
| PCU: | 55 |
| Size: | 3x3x3 |
| Time to Build: | 20 sec |
| Data Controls: | [edit] [purge] (?) |
The Wind Turbine is a power producing block. The Wind Turbine will only work on atmospheric planets and on large grid stations (for exceptions, see below).
A DLC shape variant of this block is the Twin-Blade Wind Turbine.
Usage
Building Wind Turbines brings your base free power on planets with atmospheres.
It can be advantageous to have one base (with turbines and batteries) to park and recharge vehicles, and next door, a separate base (with its own turbines and batteries) for factory blocks. It will be more expensive to build, but they will be independent of one another and not steal power from one another.
Important: Wind Turbines produce no output in space, on mobile grids, and on airless moons.
Power
The power output of a wind turbine is dependent on clearance, atmospheric density (local oxygen levels), and weather.
- max output (average weather): 400.00 kW
Trivia
The block ceases producing power on atmospheric planets when attached to a large ship or large rover, or if attached to stations through a 
Rotor, 
Hinge, or 
Piston. An exception to this rule is that the Wind Turbine does produce power temporarily while a 
Landing Gear affixes the mobile grid to a station or the planet's surface, a fact which travelling engineers can use to their advantage.
Construction
If progression is enabled, you can always build wind turbines, they do not need to be unlocked.
You can build it only on large grid stations. There is no built-in control panel on this block.
Since this block's maximum output depends on its height from the ground, the local atmospheric density, and nearby obstructions, consider these before placing the block. The turbine block itself takes up 3 x 3 x 3 large-grid blocks of space. The mount point is a 1x1 square at the center of the base of the turbine.
Clearance
Wind clearance is a function of Wind Turbine height and nearby terrain/station obstructions:
- Vertically, place the turbine 6 to 9 blocks high up on a roof, hill, or on pillars.
- Horizontally, place the turbines 6 to 9 blocks apart, that means, keep 6+ blocks free between the blades of other turbines.
There are three wind clearance categories indicated in the Control Panel:
- None — The turbine is switched off, not directly attached to a station, or in a windless place.
- Poor — The turbine is obstructed.
- Good — The turbine is in an acceptable position and only minimally obstructed.
- Optimal — The turbine is in the best position.
The more wind clearance, the higher the power output.
Turbine Height Comparison
A turbine placed on the ground indicates poor clearance and only outputs 150-200 kW, even in dense atmospheres. A turbine placed on a pillar indicates optimal clearance and outputs 200-400 kW, the min and max depending on local weather and atmosphere density.
Height = 0 = poor clearance
Height = 3 = good clearance
Height = 9 = optimal clearance
Recipe
 Wind Turbine | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Component | Large Ship/Station Required | Large Ship/Station Optional | Small Ship Required | Small Ship Optional |
 Motor | 8 | — | — | — |
 Interior Plate | 10 | 30 | — | — |
 Girder | 24 | — | — | — |
 Construction Comp. | 20 | — | — | — |
 Computer | 2 | — | — | — |
