Prison Architect Green Power - Sizing Arrays Properly For Each Transformer

Channel:

Rusty Walker

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Published on December 20, 2023 7:30:58 AM ● Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hYr2IGUm_N8

Game:

Prison Architect (2015)

Duration: 15:58

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It can be confusing getting started with green power. Even longtime players like @OfficialStuffPlus sometimes get mixed up how to size them properly.

Here are the stats you need to know to design effective green power arrays and grids to either or both run your prison and export.

The day is 14 hours long and night 10 hours long. The 5000-unit power cap is if your selected power source were to generate at the same rate for all 24 hours, but sometimes they don't, especially if you have weather on.

Solar panels generate:
0 at night
50 with bad weather and unfinished green goals
100 with bad weather and finished green goals
150 normal or no weather turned on
250 with good weather and unfinished green goals
and 350 with good weather and finished green goals

I suggest using the maximum generation rate to work out how many panels would get closest to the 5000-unit cap: 5000/350, giving 14.2. You can stay under 5000 or go slightly over with 15 panels knowing that there isn't good weather every day.

However, solar panels only hit that rate for 14 hours and then switch off, so they only actually produce (14/24)*5000 maximum power, a possible total of 2916.7 units power per day.

Wind turbines have the same figures but work at night too.

Hybrids produce:
200 at night
300 with bad weather and unfinished green goals
400 with bad weather and finished green goals
500 normal or no weather turned on
600 with good weather and unfinished green goals
and 700 with good weather and finished green goals

Using the 5000-unit power cap and the maximum day generation rate, 5000/700 means 7 or 8 hybrids will produce enough power to satisfy the transformer cap.

Hybrids produce at different rates during the day and night, so produce ((14/24)*5000)+((10/24)*2000)=3750 possible units power per day if you match your array to the day production unit cap.

That requires 3750/500 = 7.5 batteries, so you have the choice to add on the 8th or always fill 7 and stop.

To generate more power, build another array connected to its own transformer, batteries, and export meter.

Here's why.

If you just add 8 more hybrids to the first 8 giving 16, you still only produce 5000 useable or storable power during the day even though your night production increases.

((14/24)*5000)+((10/24)*(16*200))= 4250 possible units power per day.

Compare this to having two identical independent arrays each exporting of 8 hybrids each.

2*(((14/24)*5000)+((10/24)*2000)) = 7500 possible units power per day, an improvement of 7500-4250 = 3250 units power per day.

The extra infrastructure costs will pay for themselves pretty quickly.

Normal or no weather
1. (500*14/24)+(200*10/24) = 375 (1 battery)
2. (1000*14/24)+(400*10/24) = 750 (2 batteries)
3. (1500*14/24)+(600*10/24) = 1125 (3 batteries)
4. (2000*14/24)+(800*10/24) = 1500 (3 batteries)
5. (2500*14/24)+(1000*10/24) = 1875 (4 batteries)
6. (3000*14/24)+(1200*10/24) = 2250 (5 batteries)
7. (3500*14/24)+(1400*10/24) = 2625 (6 batteries)
8. (4000*14/24)+(1600*10/24) = 3000 (6 batteries)
9. (4500*14/24)+(1800*10/24) = 3375 (7 batteries)
10. (5000*14/24)+(2000*10/24) = 3750 (8 batteries)

Good weather, grants done, 1 transformer
1. (700*14/24)+(200*10/24) = 491.6 (1 battery)
2. (1400*14/24)+(400*10/24) = 983.3 (2 batteries)
3. (2100*14/24)+(600*10/24) = 1475 (3 batteries)
4. (2800*14/24)+(800*10/24) = 1966.6 (4 batteries)
5. (3500*14/24)+(1000*10/24) = 2458.3 (5 batteries)
6. (4200*14/24)+(1200*10/24) = 2950 (6 batteries)
7. (4900*14/24)+(1400*10/24) = 3441.6 (7 batteries)
8. (5000*14/24)+(1600*10/24) = 3583.3 (8 batteries)
9. (5000*14/24)+(1800*10/24) = 3666.6 (8 batteries)
10. (5000*14/24)+(2000*10/24) = 3750 (8 batteries)
11. (5000*14/24)+(2200*10/24) = 3833.3 (8 batteries)
12. (5000*14/24)+(2400*10/24) = 3916.6 (8 batteries)
13. (5000*14/24)+(2600*10/24) = 4000 (8 batteries)
14. (5000*14/24)+(2800*10/24) = 4083.3 (9 batteries)

Good weather, grants done, adding 8th hybrid onwards to 2nd transformer (10k combined cap)
1. (700*14/24)+(200*10/24) = 491.6 (1 battery)
2. (1400*14/24)+(400*10/24) = 983.3 (2 batteries)
3. (2100*14/24)+(600*10/24) = 1475 (3 batteries)
4. (2800*14/24)+(800*10/24) = 1966.6 (4 batteries)
5. (3500*14/24)+(1000*10/24) = 2458.3 (5 batteries)
6. (4200*14/24)+(1200*10/24) = 2950 (6 batteries)
7. (4900*14/24)+(1400*10/24) = 3441.6 (7 batteries)
8. (5600*14/24)+(1600*10/24) = 3933.3 (7 batteries and 1 battery)
9. (6300*14/24)+(1800*10/24) = 4425 (7 batteries and 2 batteries)
10. (7000*14/24)+(2000*10/24) = 4916.6 (7 batteries and 3 batteries)
11. (7700*14/24)+(2200*10/24) = 5408.3 (7 batteries and 4 batteries)
12. (8400*14/24)+(2400*10/24) = 5900 (7 batteries and 5 batteries)
13. (9100*14/24)+(2600*10/24) = 6391.6 (7 batteries and 6 batteries)
14. (9800*14/24)+(2800*10/24) = 6883.3 (7 batteries and 7 batteries)

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