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======Starlight Cells====== | ======Starlight Cells====== | ||
- | |"The galaxy blesses us with virtually infinite energy in the form of stars, vast electromagnetic generators whose fruits are ripe for the harvest. If life gives you lemons, you brew lemon cider. If life gives you starlight, building antimatter reactors or plasma drives seems kind of redundant, doesn' | + | |"The galaxy blesses us with virtually infinite energy in the form of stars, vast electromagnetic generators whose fruits are ripe for the harvest. If life gives you lemons, you brew lemon cider. If life gives you starlight, building antimatter reactors or plasma drives seems kind of redundant, doesn' |
=====Concept===== | =====Concept===== | ||
- | In their eternal quest for simplicistic | + | In their eternal quest for simplistic |
- | The Starlight Cell is considered the epitome of this philosophy: a system that requires no fuel, no mainteniance, and can work under the harshest conditions deep space has to offer. | + | |
=====Construction===== | =====Construction===== | ||
- | A Starlight Cell can have countless shapes and dimensions, from a thin metallic coin to power a lightbulb to huge blocks of composite machinery as large as a car, but all have the same fundamental structure and function: composite voltaic cells of polymers and nano particles are used to form an array of multispectral | + | A Starlight Cell can have countless shapes and dimensions, from a thin metallic coin to power a lightbulb to huge blocks of composite machinery as large as a car, but all have the same fundamental structure and function: composite voltaic cells of polymers and nano particles are used to form an array of multi-spectral |
- | Centuries of refining solar harvesting methods means that Starlight Cells can absorb most conceivable types of radiant energy (plus some extras), and with exceptional efficiency.\\ | + | |
- | This system relies on ambient energy, so it's not very useful in emergency situations, unless a very small craft is powered by a very big cell, and even then it's still a gamble. What Starlight Cells ARE useful for is to allow every single secondary system aboard a ship to be powered locally, so that there are no power lines that can be damaged or cut.\\ | + | |
- | It basically works like a high-efficiency, | + | |
- | =====Output===== | + | Centuries of refining solar harvesting methods means that Starlight Cells can absorb most conceivable types of radiant energy (plus some extras), and with exceptional efficiency. This system relies on ambient energy, so it's not very useful in emergency situations, unless a very small craft is powered by a very big cell, and even then it's still a gamble. What Starlight Cells ARE useful for is to allow every single secondary system aboard a ship to be powered locally, so that there are no power lines that can be damaged or cut. It basically works like a high-efficiency, |
- | Starlight Cells give their best in the proximity of a star, of course, | + | |
- | However, they can also leech off other EM emissions, such as radio communications, | + | =====Energy Absorption===== |
- | Many lage ships have deployable mirrors installed, allowing them to enter a sort of " | + | Starlight Cells give their best in the proximity of a star, of course, |
=====Starlight Capacitors===== | =====Starlight Capacitors===== | ||
- | The energy harvested from Starlight Cells and not immediately used is usually stored in high-density capacitor banks called Starlight Capacitors.\\ | + | The energy harvested from Starlight Cells and not immediately used is usually stored in high-density capacitor banks called Starlight Capacitors. Starlight Capacitors are usually shielded by a buckypaper Faraday cage, which both shields their energy signatures from external sensors and prevent damage if the capacitor itself malfunctions or overloads. |
- | Starlight Capacitors are usually shielded by a buckypaper Faraday cage, which both shields their energy signatures from external sensors and prevent damage if the capacitor itself malfunctions or overloads. | + | |
=====Prism Shield-Sails===== | =====Prism Shield-Sails===== | ||
- | The only shield technology used by the Freespacers, | + | The only shield technology used by the Freespacers, |
- | Prism Shield-Sails allow to reflect and refract energy, and can be used for defense (although they are not very sturdy), but also for stealth, disguising its sensor signature as something like an asteroid or " | + | Prism Shield-Sails allow to reflect and refract energy, and can be used for defense (although they are not very sturdy), but also for stealth, disguising its sensor signature as something like an asteroid or " |
Thanks to solar sails (both normal and Prism Shield-Sails) being completely emissionless, | Thanks to solar sails (both normal and Prism Shield-Sails) being completely emissionless, | ||
+ | In summary, it uses a contemporary shielding systems to create a giant invisible starlight cell ' | ||
- | Shield Rating: 4 for small ships, 5 for large ships | + | Older versions look like masts with literal sails of billowing golden foil, but more modern designs look like long thin wings. As a rule of thumb, long and wide arrays tend to be faster, whilst shorter designs arrayed closer to the hull have better shield efficiency. |
+ | Shield Rating: 4 for merchant ships, 5 for combat ships. |