There are a variety of ways for most spaceships and space stations to generate power, each of which has its own unique advantages and challenges. A competent Engineer will need to have some familiarity with them, and a seasoned spacer should at least know what they are.

• Solar Panels: Convert light from nearby stars into energy. This requires you to be reasonably nearby a star.
• Thermoelectric Generator: A device that can be combined with other engines; it generates power based on the heat difference between two circulating gas loops. One is available per deck to handle the local heat loops, with a cold loop cooled by space or by zero-point freezer technology.
• Plasma Arc Reactor: A device that heats items to insanely high temperatures in order to convert them into recyclable materials, also heats gas that can be used in other reactions such as a thermoelectric generator.
• Bioconverter: The bioconverter converts organic matter into power and compost, while separating inorganic matter. This has many uses, but it should be noted that it is fairly slow compared to most other power generation systems.
• Gourmonger: A living organism that eats food and expels radiation with efficiencies higher than should be physically AND biologically possible.
• Radiation Collector Array: A device that is often a component of other engines; it converts radiation, including radiation generated by these engines, into energy to power the ship.
• Furnace: The simple furnace is a compact form of a burn chamber that allows you to put things into it, and in turn produces power while combusting the aforementioned things. Has an input and output to allow it to heat gases, and also heats the surrounding area like a space heater while in operation as a potentially useful side effect. Coal in its various forms is preferred, but many combustible items can be burned for fuel by the furnace. Generates power and heat while fuel lasts. Noncombustible things need to be removed every so often.
• Singularity Generator: A device that creates a gravitational singularity within a containment field, and uses the radiation produced from this singularity to create power.
• Tesla Reactor: An alternative use for the particle accelerator that creates a floating ball of electrical energy in midair.
• Supermatter Engine: A device that uses highly volatile supermatter to generate energy, radiation, and heat. Do not touch the supermatter.
• Microfusion Reactor: A surprisingly safe and sane power source, considering all of the other options available.

Although most of the above reactors are available at the start of the round, these must be constructed manually, typically in the Alternate Reactor Bay. One should probably not do so until everything else is working perfectly—pffft, hahaha, do what you want. These are in order of likely scientific advancements.

• Thermonuclear Fission Reactor: A reactor that creates a thermonuclear fission reaction to create heat and radiation for power.
• Thermonuclear Fusion Reactor: A device that creates a thermonuclear fusion reaction to create heat and radiation for power.
• Hypertorus Fusion Reactor: The big fusion donut of doom, with very sensitive gas mixture requirements.
• Antimatter Engine: An engine that uses the interaction of matter and antimatter to create enormous amounts of energy.
• Matter-to-Energy Converter: This device annihilates matter at the atomic level in order to convert it entirely into useful energy; it is the most efficient source of power that still requires some form of fuel.

These are portable power generators that can augment a local grid in a pinch.

• Combustion Generator: A simple generator that produces power by burning fuel. Note that this introduces toxic smoke into the environment that needs to be filtered, is an active fire hazard for any flammable gases in the air, and requires oxygen to work at all. On the other hand, it's portable and can easily be hooked into a local grid.
• Solar Generator: Typically found outside the space equivalent of RVs or small planetary outposts, solar generators are self-contained arrays of solar panels designed to be placed, hooked in, and forgotten about. Their intrinsic tracking system keeps them pointed in the direction of the sun as long as possible, and their built-in power cell stores excess energy and feeds it back into the grid when the sun is unavailable.
• Hydrogen Fuel Cell: Using the magic of readily available liquid hydrogen, this fuel cell requires oxygen to run and produces water as its waste output, making it doubly useful in areas without potable water.
• Atomic Generator: These power supplies use uranium sheeting to generate power for a long time, and produce useful depleted uranium when finished. Perfect for the radiation-loving scientist, especially when properly shielded.
• Tritium Generator: These power supplies use metallic hydrogen (tritium) to generate a small, controlled fusion reaction.
• Matter Delaminator: This high-tech device takes sheets of any matter and strips it at the atomic level to generate energy through its dissolution. Denser matter lasts longer and produces more power. Explosive materials are not recommended.
• Matter-to-Energy Generator: This generator is a portable version of the Matter-to-Energy Reactor that can be connected anywhere on the ship, and has similar performance metrics. It is considered the optimum small generator design and draws its matter from the surrounding atmosphere.

These are devices that are not directly used to generate power but still play a role in some engine designs.

• Tesla Coil: These power-absorbing coils drain energy from lightning strikes, usually from the Tesla generator, to generate power.
• Grounding Rod: These border the exterior of the Tesla engine and are meant to ground stray lightning bolts to prevent them from escaping to damage the ship.

The power grid can theoretically run without this as long as sufficient power is always available, but these elements stop the entire station from immediately dying the moment one of the engines stops working, and gives the engineers time to fix a problem.

• Power Substations: A power grid management hardware solution that improves grid redundancy and safety.
• Superconducting Magnetic Energy Storage: A capacitance bank capable of storing massive amounts of power.
• Cell Rack Power Storage Unit: A less expensive mass power storage system that racks multiple power cells and slaves them to a control structure to hold power.
• Area Power Controller: The Area Power Controller is responsible for transmitting beamed power to all items in a room. Note that some high-drain objects must be directly wired to the APC or power grid instead.

Power cells are used to operate devices; they come in several grades depending on the size of the object they are expected to be installed in.

These are typically backup power storage for outposts that need large amounts of energy storage without rapid discharge, or as backup power for mission-critical equipment like the AI. A basic, unmodified large cell holds 1MWh of energy, while low-capacity cells found in old outposts hold 100kWh.

These are the cells commonly used to power large machinery or cyborgs, to act as the local cell for an APC, or to act as backup power for high-priority machinery. A basic, unmodified normal cell holds 10kWh of energy. Other energy cells are as follows:

• Low-Capacity Power Cell: This cheap low-powered cell doesn't hold much in the way of power: 1000 Wh (one kilowatt-hour). However they are regularly found as backup power for space heaters and other basic pre-existing electronics.
• Default Power Cell: These are the power cells you will likely find around your workplace, and hold 10 kWh.
• High-Capacity: 20kWh.
• Super-Capacity: 40kWh.
• Hyper-Capacity: 100kWh.
• Potato Cell: 300 Wh.
• Slime-Core Cell: 10kWh.

These are the cells used to power handheld objects such as weapons and tools, or as backup power for some machinery. A basic, unmodified small cell holds 1kWh of energy. Some small cells are used in place of low-capacity regular cells to save room.

These are the cells that power internal chips and other minute electronics. A basic, unmodified microcell holds 10Wh of energy.

Piezoelectric Power Generator: This recharges slowly as the user moves about. The power generation is small, but requires no added effort on the part of the user, and is used to recharge the cell or device the user connects it to. As a side effect, this recharges faster the faster the person moves.

Wireless Power Collector: This recharges slowly by drawing energy from the environment, typically in the form of beamed power waves from APCs.

Solar Collector: This recharges slowly by collecting light in the environment. This is typically only useful in a extremely well-lit environment.

Atomic Decay Generator: This recharges slowly by collecting power from the decay of radioactive elements built into the cell.

Microfusion Generator: This recharges by generating a microfusion reaction within the cell to generate power. Very high on the tech tree, but worthwhile.

Artifact Generator: This unknown artifact generates power through unconventional methods not commonly understood by science. It is typically combined with an artifact cell to automatically recharge it or connected to a power line to directly power an installation.

Understanding the intricacies of the power dynamic is key to keeping your floating space deathtrap in order. Many believe that the Captain is the seat of power on the ship. This is untrue as having the Captain wired into the power grid provides minimal power at best, and inserting him into the furnace only supplies temporary gains (as well as complaints from Internal Affairs).

The real source of power comes from Engineering, because without Engineers to set up and maintain the power sources during a shift, the space ship or space station in question would cease to function normally and devolve into a degenerative society with no more power than a uncivilized horde of lowly Assistants, who, it should be noted, provide even less power when wired directly to the grid.

Depending on your assignment, you may have some or all of the following power sources available to bring light and life to your vicinity… or, often, to cause unimaginable terror and doom when things go wrong. Try to avoid that last bit.

The gas turbine generator is a tertiary power source that is usually installed before a pipe system to reclaim energy. Essentially, it uses the pressure of gases passing through a pipe to turn a turbine, generating a small amount of electricity in the process as well as lowering the rate of flow. The power generated depends on the pressure of the chamber it is venting.

Portable generators are failsafes when all other systems fail. They require fuel that is fed directly into the generator by hand. The type of fuel is dependent which type of generator is being used.

Portable generators can be upgraded to produce more power and use fuel more efficiently.

• Plasma Combustion Portable Generator: This takes sheets of Solidified Plasma and breaks them down for power.
• Carbon-Fission Portable Generator: This takes sheets of highly dense carbon (Diamond) and breaks them down for power.
• Nuclear-Fission Portable Generator: This takes sheets of uranium and breaks them down for power.

It is generally suggested to use a portable generator when setting up containment devices from a cold start to prevent accidental containment shutdown (or not starting in time) during the process.

To most people they're just wires that burn the shit out of you when you try to cut them without wearing insulated gloves. But really, the power grid is the electrical backbone of the station, powering everything from the emitters containing the singularity to the APC that controls the bathrooms in the locker room that you never go to. Also, it burns the shit out of you if you try to cut it without wearing insulated gloves.

A Superconducting Magnetic Energy Storage (SMES) Cell is the space version of a giant rechargeable battery. The standard set-up for an SMES involves:

1. a wiring input from a power source, such as Solars or the Singularity Engine, or from the power grid itself, in the case of the Backups SMESs, and

2. a wiring output to the local power grid, or to a closed system like the AI or mining stations

SMES have a modifiable storage capacity, dependent on the power cells installed in the SMES upon fabrication. All SMESs present at the beginning of a typical shift have a default capacity of 3.33 MW.

SMES input (charging) and output levels can be modified using capacitors. All SMESs present at the beginning of a typical shift have a basic capacitor with default i/o levels of 200 kW.

At first, SMESs will only charge when the input power is equal or higher to the input levels specified on the SMES settings panel. With Power Regulation tech, input can be maximized and power will equalize to charge without manual regulation.

Likewise, SMESs will only output when the level of charge is above the output level specified on the SMES settings panel.

APCs, or Automated Power Controllers, are found in or, more likely, in maintenance just outside every room with power. They can be used to turn on or off the room equipment, lightning and environmental (a.k.a. ventilation) systems.

System power is the amount of power available at any given time. Power is made available through charged SMESs outputting power and through immediate power from power sources wired directly to the grid.

(System Power) = (Total Output Power of SMESs) + (Power Sources Wired to the Grid)

To maintain a stable source of power for equipment, the power grid follows a “power queue” where an electrical component with higher rank on the queue has its power draw from the grid evaluated before an electrical component with a lower priority. APCs are typically the lowest priority since they only draw power, while power sources are the highest priority since they only produce power.

The most visible effect of the power queue is that if there is not enough output power available on the grid because a component with higher rank is requesting it, then a lower rank component will not charge. For example, if the Backup SMESs are set to input 200 kW each from the grid and the APCs draw 150 kW, but the grid only provides 250 kW total, then the second Backup SMES will not charge and around two out of three APCs will go unpowered as well.

Similarly, if a higher rank component has a high enough output level to handle the power draw, then the system will draw all of its power from the higher rank component instead of splitting the draw with a lower rank component. This phenomenon is seen often when multiple SMESes are set up to charge off of a single source. An unaware Engineer will purposefully set all SMESs to output at a very high value, say 100 kW, or 300 kW for a set of 3, thinking that this will be more than enough to power the system. While this is technically correct, it isn't advised since it slows down the time it takes until all SMESs are completely full.

An example is the best way to see this. Let's say that the total power draw on the system is near 150 kW. This means the station will draw 100 kW from SMES #1, 50 kW from SMES #2, and 0 kW from SMES #3, resulting in different charging rates of the SMESs. Assuming SMESs have a capacity of 3,333,333 W (3.33 MW) and assuming an input level of 200 kW, it should take 33.3 cycles before all the SMESs are completely charged (9.99 MW total power stored).

A better way is to set output levels on SMESs #1 and #2 to a third of the total power draw of the station (here, 50 kW), while allowing the remainder (also, 50 kW) to draw from SMES #3, which would be set higher than that to account for power fluctuations. For the same case where the total draw was 150 kW, we would set SMES #1 and #2 to 50 kW and SMES #3 to something higher like 200 kW. This would have all three SMESs charged in 22.2 cycles – 33% faster than the situation above.

Sooner or later, the power will go out. This is where you - YES, YOU, YOU LAZY FUCK - come in and call out to recall that shuttle because you can fix it! Power can go out for many reasons. Your first port of call should be the Power Monitoring console in engineering, assuming it still exists. Then, ask yourself what's going on:

• Power goes out everywhere, in under 10 seconds or so? This is most likely a power sink. Power sinks have the odd quirk of still powering the area they are placed in, so your best bet is to get searching for somewhere where the lights are still on, or where you don't have to crowbar the doors.
• Power goes out everywhere, but gradually, section by section? This means there's a problem in Engineering itself as the rest of the ship is being topped up with charge. It'll be immediately obvious if the engine isn't on/has escaped. Your next port of call should be the SMES cells. Check they're outputting enough power to overcome the drain OR if no APCs are showing on the Power Monitoring computer, it means a wire has been cut either inside or immediately outside the Engineering area and is not being supplied to the rest of the station.
• Power is out across a small area? This is most commonly a broken wire, the easiest way to find it is with familiarity with the power-net and using that in conjunction with the power monitoring computer. If an area has had all wires sending power to it snipped, its APCs will no longer show on the power monitoring computer. For example, if Medbay as a whole has lost power and isn't showing any of its APCs on the power monitor. The wire cut is most likely in the maint tunnel behind Medbay. The more familiar you become with the power nets, the quicker you will be able to work out where the break is and be able to recognize common spots used.
• Power is out across 2 small rooms or in one room? This is most likely an APC that has been tampered with in some way. Either hacked by an AI/Saboteur, destroyed somehow or just had its cell ripped out. Again, if the APC doesn't show up on the Power Monitoring computer, it means it's been severed from the power net and wire either inside that room or very close to the APC has been cut.
• Power is intermittent across the station. Stuff turns off for a while, starts working, then goes off again? Your SMES aren't outputting enough power to keep the APCs charged. This happens most often when the output is just under the drain so therefore some APCs get enough power, while others don't.
• Power isn't actually out? Either someone is crying wolf or something else has happened to make it look like power went out, most likely an electrical storm.

Now that you know what's wrong with power, it's your job to fix it! A few more points for particular problems:

If the singularity or Tesla ball is about to break out of containment, TURN OFF THE PA IMMEDIATELY (it may be worth asking the AI) and get alternate power sources ready, if they aren't already online.

If the supermatter is destabilizing, TURN OFF THE EMITTERS! Once that's resolved, your major goals are to reduce temperature and pressure in the supermatter containment area, or if it is dangerously close to exploding, use the emergency vent option to spew the entire disaster into space where it hopefully won't destroy anything important. Don't throw the supermatter into space unless there really is no other sane option available. Venting a canister of freon into the room will help to stabilize the ongoing reactions; filtering out the other gases in the room will also reduce ongoing reactions as well as pressure. The cold loop is supposed to provide vital cooling to the system, but if it is damaged or sabotaged, or if its pumps are misconfigured, temperature will continue to rise in the chamber unless the gas is vented or pumped out.

Like the supermatter engine, the thermoelectric generator relies on the cold loop - in this case, to provide a cold gas that can capture heat transfer from the hot loop, with the generator drawing electrical power from this interaction. As such, the engine will stop producing power if the cold loop doesn't have gas in it (via a leak created by damage or sabotage, or someone shutting off the pumps), or if the cold loop is not staying cold for some reason.

The thermoelectric generator also relies on the hot loop. This basically involves superheating the gases via a burn chamber transferring extreme heat to a closed loop of gas, which then is pumped into the thermoelectric generator so that it can make power. If this is broken in some way (the hot loop isn't getting hot anymore, or the gas has been let out or isn't being transferred around anymore), then the generator won't generate any power.

Furnaces are a compact form of the thermoelectric generator that is very simplistic - you burn things in it, power and heat come out. As such it isn't much use for powering a massive starship, but can help with the needs of a very small outpost (in specific, you'll probably find them in use in mining or prison outposts.)

If one of the power systems has been critically damaged or self-destructed, it might be necessary to replace equipment. There is a PACMAN located in the SMES room and a spare SMES unit located in Electrical Maintenance, both of which no one ever remembers. You can also rebuild everything given proper supplies. The tools to build a new SMES are located in Tech Storage, and cargo can order replacement parts for most power systems.

SMES units may be configured via interface which is opened by left-clicking with empty hand on the SMES. Alternatively you may use the RCON console to operate most SMESs on station.

Each SMES needs terminal to operate properly. This terminal allows you to charge the SMES from one power network, and output into another one. By using papropriate controls in the GUI you may set any input value up to certain cap. This cap can be increased by upgrading the SMES unit, as described further in this guide. Also, please note that setting larger input than available will cause the SMES to enter “Partially Charging” state. This means the SMES is still charging, but not at set input rate. You may choose from two input options - OFF and AUTO.

The SMES outputs power into wire placed directly under it. Usually, you want to keep output lower than input, however sometimes you may have to increase output to compensate for larger demand. This is common with main Engine SMES when setting up Substations. The output rate is also capped and also upgradeable. You may choose from two output options which are self explanatory - ONLINE and OFFLINE.

Required tools: Screwdriver, Crowbar, Wirecutters, Welding Tool, Wrench, Insulated Gloves (optional, but recommended), Multitool (optional, only if you decide to disable failsafes)

• First of all you should ensure the SMES is discharged. While there is a workaround, it may (read: will) cause an injury and/or damage.
• Open the SMES's interface by left clicking it. Ensure both Input and Output are turned Off.
• Use screwdriver on the SMES to open the access panel.
• Use wirecutters on the SMES to cut the terminal. If the terminal is missing (or destroyed) simply skip this step.

• Complete everything in Preparations.
• (OPTIONAL) Use multitool on the SMES to disconnect safety circuit. This step may be skipped if you completely discharge the SMES. DO NOT PROCEED IF SMES IS CHARGED ABOVE 50%, usually, anything below 15% is safe(with gloves). Anything above 50% is likely to kill you.
• Use crowbar on the SMES to begin removing the components. This may take up to 60 seconds, depending on amount of coils in the SMES. Basic SMESs should take approximately 10 seconds. SMES will turn into machine frame and few components. You may use these components for research or for repairs/upgrades.
• Use wirecutters to remove cables from the machine frame
• Use wrench to dismantle the machine frame.

Disabling failsafes, as outlined in Hacking section of this page may cause SMES Failure when removing the components (crowbar step), or adding new components (inserting new coils). Chance of “something bad” happening is directly proportional to SMES charge percentage. SMES charged to 75% has 75% probability of failing, etc. If this failure happens, effects are once again related to charge percentage.

• Discharge - (Always) The SMES will lose ALL its remaining charge.
• Sparks - (Always) Mostly harmless, some sparks will fly from the SMES, potentially igniting fire if flammable material is nearby.
• Electrocution - (Always) Shocks the user. Please note that while insulated gloves mitigate the effect, gloves have their limits and aren't guaranteed to 100% protect you. Damage scales with charge percentage. Anything above 2 MWh is instant-kill even with gloves (roughly 60% of a standard SMES charge.)
• EM Pulse - (above 15% charge) Causes electromagnetic pulse which breaks nearby electronics. This usually trips fire alarms, breaks consoles, and may even kill/injure the AI/cyborgs/people with prosthetics depending on situation. Size of EM Pulse is proportional to amount of stored power.
• APC Overload - (above 35% charge) Overloads lighting circuits of few APCs connected to the SMES's output. Please note that having something between the SMES and APC (such as, another SMES) will prevent the damage. Chance is proportional to amount of stored power.
• APC Failure - (above 35% charge) Completely breaks some APCs in SMES's output. Same rule as above applies.
• Magnetic Containment Failure - (above 60% charge) The worst thing that can happen. If SMES's magnetic containment fails remaining charge is released in form of violent explosion. The SMES is completely destroyed, as well as few nearby tiles. This almost always causes hull breach, and the explosion may gib you. After this failure is triggered you have 30-60 seconds before the SMES blows up.

SMES units may be hacked to enable or disable various features. Remember to wear your protective equipment or risk injury. To access the wiring open front panel with screwdriver. Then click the SMES with empty hand to open up wiring window. There are five wires, which have randomized colours every round.

• Input - Cutting this will cause the SMES to stop inputting. Pulsing will temporarily disable input.
• Output - Cutting this will cause the SMES to stop outputting. Pulsing will temporarily disable output.
• RCON - Cutting this will disable RCON (Remote CONtrol), hiding the SMES from control consoles. It also disables AI control. Pulsing does nothing.
• Failsafes - Cutting will allow you to modify the SMES even if it is charged. Please note that this may result in catastrophic overload if charge is large enough. Pulsing does nothing.
• Grounding - Cutting or pulsing this wire will overload the SMES, causing quick dissipation of stored energy. This energy may however damage or destroy APCs in output power network, so it is advised to either disconnect the SMES, or at least use Substations to prevent damage to many APCs. Mending will restore grounding and stop the overload. This is highly similar failure of charged SMES, but with less risks involved for the user. Remember that doing this as non-antagonist is not a good idea.

Construction Required Tools Cablecoil.png Cable Coil, 2x (two full coils) Metal.png Metal Sheets, 5x Circuitboard.png SMES Circuit Board - May be obtained from Research, or salvaged from existing SMESs SMESCoil.png Superconducting Magnetic Coil - May be obtained from Cargo or salvaged from existing SMES. You need at least one coil, but adding more coils increases capacity and input/output cap of the SMES. You may add up to six coils into single SMES. Yellowgloves.png Insultated Gloves - Optional, but reccomended (espicially if you are going to manipulate wiring) Construction Steps Use your metal sheets to build machine frame. Use your cable coil on machine frame to add wires. (OPTIONAL) place wire under the machine frame. The SMES will output into this wire. Use your SMES Circuit Board on wired machine frame. Add 30 pieces of cable (one full length cable coil). Add one superconducting magnetic coil. Finalise the SMES with screwdriver. Terminal New SMES starts without terminal. Furthermore, terminals may be damaged by explosions or similar effects. Fortunately, installing new terminal is easy.

Open interface of your SMES and turn it's input and output OFF. Use screwdriver on the SMES to open the cover. Use cable coil on the SMES to add new terminal. You need 10 pieces of cable for this. If you make a mistake use wirecutters to remove the terminal and repeat this step. Use screwdriver on the SMES to close the cover. RCON Settings RCON, or Remote CONtrol, allows remote operation of SMESs from RCON console. To allow usage of RCON you have to set RCON tag. This tag has to be unique (ie. do not use tag already used by another SMES). To set new tag click the SMES with multitool. If you wish to disable RCON you may either cut apropriate wire (see Hacking section), or use tag “NO_TAG”.

Upgrading There are three types of coils in existence: Superconductive Capacitance Coils highly increase the amount of energy the SMES can store. Superconductive Transference Coils highly increase the maximum input and output rate. Superconductive Magnetic Coils increase both storage and transfer rate, but at a lesser extent. There are two of each type of coils in the Engineering Hard Storage, in one of the crates. When building an SMES you may add only a single Magnetic Coil into it. However, you may add up to five more coils later. This process is slightly more complex than terminal replacement.

Ensure the SMES is discharged. Alternatively, you may disable the failsafes (see point 4.). Please read the “SMES Failure” section of this guide before proceeding. Open interface of your SMES and turn it's input and output OFF. Use screwdriver on the SMES to open the cover. (OPTIONAL) Disable failsafes by cutting the correct wire (see Hacking section). Use your superconducting magnetic coil(s) on the SMES to install them. (OPTIONAL) Re-enable failsafes if you disabled them. Use screwdriver on the SMES to close the cover.