Feature Request: Solar Panels That Always Face the Sun (No Rotation Dead Zones)

[bilimili10]

I'm coming from KSP, where I've always been frustrated by one thing: the solar panels can never fully align with the sun. Even the tracking panels have rotation limits and dead zones, so they never stay perfectly perpendicular to the sunlight.

My idea was to mount the solar panels on movable/robotic structures and have them "link" to the panel's tracking logic, so the whole assembly rotates to keep the panel exactly perpendicular to the sun — eliminating the dead zones entirely. In KSP, this isn't really possible without mods like kOS, because the stock robotic parts have no automatic sun-tracking logic, and the panel's built-in tracking only rotates around its own axis within fixed limits.

So for KSA, I'd really like to see this addressed in the design:

• Solar panels with full 2-axis tracking and no angle limits, so they can always stay perpendicular to the sun.
• Robotic/movable parts that can automatically orient toward the sun, ideally with a way to link a panel's tracking to a rotor or hinge.
• A scripting/automation system (I've seen mentions of an in-game terminal for automating flight sequences) that could let players control panel orientation programmatically for precise sun-tracking.

I understand KSA is still in very early development, and solar power itself seems to have only just been added. I just wanted to put this out there as a suggestion for the roadmap — I think a lot of players coming from KSP would appreciate solar panels that don't have rotation dead zones.

Thanks for reading!

 

[Luigi Trabacchin]

I think that was part of the fun and realism. made you think about how the capsule should maintain that angle (pack more propellant) or how to build a bigger capsule with more panels/parts so at least some will always face the sun. Also I can't really imagine a solar panel that is somehow able to always be perpendicular to the sun it would be mounted in some kind of gyroscope, need a lot of space the structure won't be easily foldable...

 

[bilimili10]

我觉得这也是乐趣和真实感的一部分。这让你思考了如何让舱体保持这个角度（比如多装推进剂），或者如何建造一个更大的舱体，配备更多面板和零件，至少有些部件始终面向太阳。另外，我也无法想象一块太阳能板能始终垂直于太阳，它会安装在某种陀螺仪里，需要很大空间，结构不容易折叠......

我的意思是，游戏可以提供双轴太阳能电池板，或者让机器人部件连接到太阳能板的转向系统，就像控制面控制俯仰一样。这主要针对空间站，这样当没有人主动控制时，空间站可以获得最大的太阳能。

 

[Strings]

What I mean is that the game could provide dual-axis solar panels, or allow robotic components to connect to a solar panel's rotation system, just like controlling a turret through the control panel.

This is mainly intended for space stations, so that when nobody is actively controlling them, the space station can obtain the maximum amount of solar energy.

That would be cool as an advanced part a bit later in the tech tree.