Powering the station
The station starts out with maxed out battery power, but not generating any power at all. If power is not supplied, the station will start going dark in about 10 minutes, and the engineers will likely be threatened with lynchings until they resolve it. Or if they don't they will actually be lynched.
The Singularity Engine
The singularity engine is the real engine of the station, containing the mass gravitational power of a black hole so the crew can deep fry various articles of clothing. Starting the singularity engine requires the intervention of at least one human, and is usually the responsibility of the Chief Engineer. However, anyone with sufficient access, a welder, and a wrench can do it. A welding mask is also advised due to the large amount of welding that goes on.
Activating the singularity engine
There are 3 critical parts of the engine: The singularity generator, the field generators, and the emitters. The process for setting it up correctly is involved enough that it has its own article, found here.
The Solars
The solars are the external solar arrays of the station, nice in that they are almost maintenance free and provide enough power to keep lights and life support on in the station. However, they are not enough to keep anything else on, and they are trivially sabotaged by anyone with a space suit and wirecutters.
Activating the solar arrays
There are two solar arrays on the station, one on the west side with the control station just north of the cargo bay, and one on the east side with the control station just north of the disposal area. Assuming you have sufficient access, you do not need any tools to start the solars.
Steps to activating the solars:
- Click on the computer with an empty hand.
- Set the tracking algorithm to Auto. (Note: This should be set by default)
- Click the adjacent SMES, set its input value to somewhere between 70k and 100k and input status to Auto, and its output value to 40-70k and output status to On
Done. The AI can do this as well, and it is often easiest to simply ask the AI to 'set the solars'.
The Furnaces
The furnaces are traditional coal-burning power sources and are typically a last resort on the station. They consume the char mineral and produce power. Do not bother activating the furnaces unless the singularity engine has been stolen or something.
Steps to activating the furnaces:
- Click and drag a crate of furnace fuel onto a furnace and it will auto-load all the char inside.
- With an empty hand, click the furnace and click On.