Astroneer: How To Produce Power Efficiently (2024)

Quick Links

  • Producing Power

  • Power Storing In Batteries

  • How Much Power Will You Use?

  • Early-Game Power Management

  • Late-Game Power Management

  • Managing Power Cables

  • Dedicated Power Production Zone

Power is essential in Astroneer; without it, you will not be able to print new items to help you travel between planets. When your first start a game, you will be provided with power from your shelter, but soon, you will outgrow the amount of power that is provided here.

Related: Astroneer: How To Travel To Different Planets

In this guide, you are going to learn the most efficient ways to provide power to your base. Rather than having a large cluster of small generators attached to each other, you will be able to manage your power output like a pro. First, let's take a look at all power-making devices.

Producing Power

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Power is measured in units per second, or U/s. Below, you can find each power-producing item, as well as the U/s of power produced.

Power-Producing Item

U/s

Materials Required To Make

Shelter

1 U/s

  • 2x Silicone
  • 2x Plastic

Field Shelter

0.5 U/s

  • 1x Silicone
  • 1x Graphene

Small Solar Panel

0.25 to 1.75 U/s

  • The solar panel will produce more or less depending on the amount of sunlight present.
  • 1x Copper

Medium Solar Panel

1 to 7 U/s

  • 1x Copper
  • 1x Glass

Large Solar Panel

2 to 14 U/s

  • 1x Aluminum Alloy
  • 1x Glass
  • 1x Copper

Solar Array

2.5 to 24.5 U/s

  • 1x Copper
  • 1x Glass
  • 1x Graphene
  • 1x Aluminum Alloy

Wrecked Solar Array

16 to 112 U/s

  • This item is non-craftable and can be found in wreckage among debris.

Small Wind Turbine

1.5 U/s

  • All turbines will only produce power if there is wind.
  • 1x Ceramic

Medium Wind Turbine

5 U/s

  • 1x Aluminum
  • 1x Ceramic

Large Wind Turbine

10 U/s

  • 1x Aluminum Alloy
  • 1x Glass
  • 1x Ceramic

XL Wind Turbine

17 U/s

  • 1x Iron
  • 1x Ceramic
  • 1x Graphene
  • 1x Aluminum Alloy

Small Generator

2 U/s

  • This will only produce power if Organic Material has been added as fuel
  • The Organic Material will last for 120 seconds.
  • 1x Compound

Medium Generator

9 U/s

  • This will only produce power if Carbon has been added as fuel
  • The Carbon will last for 120 seconds.
  • 1x Tungsten
  • 1x Aluminum

QT-RTG

1 U/s

  • This is a mission reward, available after completing 13 different missions.
  • By adding Astronium to an EXO Dynamics Research Aid that requires the material, you can get one QT-RTG.

RTG

4 U/s

  • 1x Nanocarbon Alloy
  • 1x Lithium

Power Cell

1 U/s

  • This item will be consumed until it is depleted.
  • The cell contains 48 units of power.
  • 1x Graphene

Shuttles

0.1 U/s

  • Varies depending on shuttle size

Power Storing In Batteries

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In addition to creating power, you will be able to store power in batteries. There are two sizes of batteries, which you can find below.

Battery Size

Capacity

Materials Required To Make

Small Battery

32 Units

  • 1x Zinc

Medium Battery

512 Units

  • 1x Zinc
  • 1x Lithium

How Much Power Will You Use?

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As time goes on, you will use more and more power. There is no way to get around this; several pieces of equipment that you create will need a lot of power. For example, the Chemistry Lab requires ten U/s to produce resources. Below, you can learn where to check your existing power production.

Checking Power Levels

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The amount of power that you are producing is displayed on every platform. To check your power production, locate the cable plug of a platform. Here, you will notice bars surrounding the red plug.

If the bars around the plug are red, this means that you are not generating enough power. When this happens, you need to either add a power source or disconnect a piece of equipment.

If the entire area isyellow, you are producing more power than needed. This is a good thing and will cause some items to complete their given task faster.

If there is only yellow on the bottom bars, this means that you are producing the exact amount of power that is needed, with no extra power being produced.

Overall, more yellow means more power. If any red is visible, you should prioritize adding a source of power or battery to your grid.

Early-Game Power Management

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While on Sylva, you won't have access to the most amount of resources. Because of this, it's important to invest in batteries and sources of renewable power.

Renewable power, such as wind turbines and solar panels, do not require any fuel or maintenance to function. This means that you can make these items and place them, without needing to gather Organic Materials or Carbon.

Generators may be quick and easy to make, but refilling them can become a pain, especially since there are better sources of power.

Overall, focus on renewable power sources while you are at the start of the game. With a few batteries attached to your shelter, you can provide and store enough power for all of your equipment.

Late-Game Power Management

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As you explore different planets and gather new resources, you should build an RTG. This is an infinite source of power with an output of four U/s. The blueprint for the RTG can be unlocked with 12,500 bytes, which is a lot. By saving bytes and researching materials, you can earn enough bytes to unlock and build this item.

Overall, we recommend building RTGs, as well as larger renewable sources of power, such as the XL Wind Turbine and Solar Array.

Managing Power Cables

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Cable management can be difficult without the proper layout. With enough platforms and equipment, your base can quickly turn into a jumbled mess.

To prevent this, organize your platforms in a 'snake' formation. Each platform has a cable that can connect to another platform. Rather than having several cables going in various directions, attach each platform to the next. This will create a uniform appearance without cables running everywhere.

Dedicated Power Production Zone

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Lastly, it's important to have a dedicated power production zone. This is an area where you store all power-producing items, as well as batteries. With these items grouped together, you can easily see how much power you are producing.

If you have a dedicated power production zone, you can quickly add additional platforms and items without struggling to find a location to place them.

Next: Astroneer - Every Flora And Where To Find It

Astroneer: How To Produce Power Efficiently (2024)

FAQs

Astroneer: How To Produce Power Efficiently? ›

Because of this, it's important to invest in batteries and sources of renewable power. Renewable power, such as wind turbines and solar panels, do not require any fuel or maintenance to function. This means that you can make these items and place them, without needing to gather Organic Materials or Carbon.

What is the best power source for Sylva? ›

Power generation on Sylva is balanced enough for the player to effectively use solar panels, wind turbines, or generators.

What is the rarest thing in Astroneer? ›

Astronium is one of the rarest Resources in Astroneer. Astronium appears as iridescent clusters, fading from green in the center to fuchsia on the edge.

Can you make a qt RTG in Astroneer? ›

In Creative Mode, QT-RTGs may be crafted using two nuggets of Nanocarbon Alloy.

Can you recharge Power Cells in Astroneer? ›

Power Cells cannot be recharged, and instead evaporate once depleted.

What is the best way for power on Atrox in Astroneer? ›

Since the planet has low wind and sunlight and an abundance of Organic sources, the best source for power would be Medium Generators or the RTG. Atrox is the only planet that requires a Gas to activate its core. Atrox is usually the last stop on the adventure of the astroneers.

Do batteries produce power in Astroneer? ›

Batteries have their own input and output speed limits depending on their size; Small Batteries can absorb or release power at 1U/s, which for reference is approximately one bar on a Small Battery every four seconds.

How do you get a power generator in Astroneer? ›

This generator is unlocked by default, or during the tutorial, if it is not skipped. You can place it in any single slot. It will continue to generate power until the full stack of fuel is consumed unless it is toggled off, regardless of available Battery space or lack thereof.

How much power does rogal produce Astroneer? ›

Rogal will produce 6.0 U/s of power for 10 minutes when fed a seed. Feeding Rogal a Mutant Cataplant Seed will increase the buff to 30 minutes.

What is the best power producer in Astroneer? ›

Overall, we recommend building RTGs, as well as larger renewable sources of power, such as the XL Wind Turbine and Solar Array.

What is the number one power source? ›

Energy Sources in the United States

Natural gas: 31.8% Petroleum (crude oil and natural gas plant liquids): 28% Coal: 17.8% Renewable energy: 12.7%

What causes the biggest explosion in Astroneer? ›

Hydrogen, Methane, Sulfur and Hydrazine are all explosive like dynamite, so when any one of them is exploded all the other explosives in the explosion radius will explode as well. These explosions get larger and larger as more explosives are added.

What material gives the most bytes in Astroneer? ›

The table below compares the yield of bytes per canister across the different resources available at the soil centrifuge. Evidently, clay is the most efficient choice in terms of byte output per canister.

What item gives the most scrap in Astroneer? ›

medium wind turbines are the most effective scrap maker in bulk its more than 1 scrap to 1 can of soil :P. I find that the Drill Mod 1 is the most efficient item to scrap.

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