New model I did, testing out blender.

[ultrasonicsite]

A different solar panel structure.

[bobthedinosaur]

Well given that there is very little surface area on the panels, it looks more like a defense turret than a sol gen. But that's just me. Cool design though.

[ultrasonicsite]

You're right, I was sort of trying to make a solar panel that spins with the wind as well, Windmill+Solar, effeciency!

Couldn't be arsed trying to set up the proper blade angles though.

[SinbadEV]

Maybe it's a self-powered weapon or shield generator?

[Neddie]

If you made the surfaces of the blades entirely solar, then backed the array/locked the panels together with a durable material, you could make the concept a little more feasible, though of course, you're working at cross purposes here...

Both solar and wind arrays have optimum facing... the windmill needs to catch the strongest wind gust at X time, while the solar array should have the largest area exposed to direct sunlight at X time. The design of this would probably rotate to catch the wind, reducing the efficacy of the photovoltaic cells - though since they're at various angles and only a small number can ever be in direct sunlight... you won't be drawing much power anyway. You could design it to have a motor take over and bring up the blades to face the sun whenever the wind drops below a certain point for a sustained period... but it would need to lock and thus have many, many more points of stress. That would allow it to repurpose when the wind dies. I'm not sure if the design can come out ahead, even given ideal materials, my power generation knowledge peters out after the mid seventies.

Hurm...

[Regret]

Both solar and wind arrays have optimum facing... the windmill needs to catch the strongest wind gust at X time, while the solar array should have the largest area exposed to direct sunlight at X time. The design of this would probably rotate to catch the wind, reducing the efficacy of the photovoltaic cells - though since they're at various angles and only a small number can ever be in direct sunlight... you won't be drawing much power anyway. You could design it to have a motor take over and bring up the blades to face the sun whenever the wind drops below a certain point for a sustained period... but it would need to lock and thus have many, many more points of stress. That would allow it to repurpose when the wind dies. I'm not sure if the design can come out ahead, even given ideal materials, my power generation knowledge peters out after the mid seventies.

Code: Select all

energyuse=-1000;

[Nemo]

EnergyMake=1000; is a bit more intuitive, probably.

[CarRepairer]

energymake = -(energyuse = -1000)

Don't avoid trying to not find new ways to do old things. Actually, do.

[Jazcash]

Solarmillz!

[ultrasonicsite]

I'll see if I can come up with a better design.

[smoth]

solar powered laser?

[AF]

solar powered laser?

Not as efficient as a mirror

[SinbadEV]

solar powered laser?

Not as efficient as a mirror

correction, not as efficient as a mirror and a large magnifying glass.

[scifi]

looks nice keep working on it

if you dont mind just a sugestion

try adding more stuff as details sutch as some cabbles conected to a box


make the solar panel bigger
otherwise nice work keep it up =D

[ultrasonicsite]

Here's the new version I made kinda quick:

[Jazcash]

The actual 3D polished render looks sexy but ingame, I would imagine all the little features on the blades would be practically invisible.

More work on the structure and bulk of it rather than the blade detail.

Also I'm thinking sun shines from above and also wind changes direction. So like 80% of the time the thing will be faced away from the sun anyway Not to mention solars probably don't actually function whilst moving

[smoth]

renders seldom reflect the final product, because of this renders are often called bullshots.

While it is fun to do renders pimping your models, I know I have done it, it seldom reflects the true model.

Focus more on the model and less on making renders, the spring engine is not that great about making models look good.

[lurker]

solar powered laser?

Not as efficient as a mirror

correction, not as efficient as a mirror and a large magnifying glass.

Unless we bring out a pulse laser, or we needed the tight focus, or the laser had a specific frequency that makes it a more effective weapon against certain armor, etc.

[rattle]

perfect for modelbase!

[ultrasonicsite]

I assume most of the little details could be done with textures, the whole model probably wouldn't be any more complex the the currently used models.

Edit: What's modelbase?