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Guide

Solar Tracker Script

Keep the starting solar generator aligned with the sun using the clock component and a forever loop.

Tutorial objective pattern · checked 2026-09-13

Guide artwork of a solar tracking array on a frozen alien planet
Guide artwork — not an in-game screenshot.
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Quick answer

The starter solar tracker needs to keep the panel perpendicular to the sun. Read the sun elevation from the clock, subtract that number from 90, and feed the result into self.set_tilt_degrees(). Because the sun keeps moving, wrap the logic in a while True loop so the script never stops adjusting.

Where the tracker fits in the opening flow

The solar generator is not available at the start. In recorded runs, completing first contact awards 1,000 credits and unlocks the shop; you buy the solar generator and a battery, deploy both from inventory, then click manage on the generator card to open the tracker script. One recorded session reached this step at night, which is a useful reminder that the panel will read zero output until sunrise no matter what the script says.

Working tracker pattern

clock = get_component("clock")

while True:
    sun = clock.get_elevation()
    self.set_tilt_degrees(90 - sun)

The rule to remember

The opening solar objective explains that the panel produces the most power when it is perpendicular to the sun, which comes down to one rule: sun elevation + panel tilt = 90. If the sun is at 60, the target panel tilt is 30. The objective’s own recorded example uses exactly those numbers.

The two ranges are defined in the objective: sun elevation runs from 0 on the horizon to 90 straight overhead, and panel tilt runs from 0 flat to 90 straight up. clock.get_elevation() returns the sun’s number, and self.set_tilt_degrees() aims the panel — the generator script’s self is the generator itself.

Why the loop matters

A one-shot script can point the panel correctly once and then ends — the objective says exactly that. The sun keeps moving, so the logic has to run forever, and while True is what turns the calculation into automation. Recorded sessions confirm the loop holds 100% efficiency through the day and that the achievement for reaching 100% solar efficiency pops shortly after a correct tracker runs.

Night, batteries, and power reality

Recorded playthroughs establish the day/night mechanics the tracker operates in:

  • No sun, no output. At night the panel produces nothing regardless of script quality — one recorded session watched efficiency sit at zero until sunrise.
  • Batteries carry you through. A recorded small battery reported filling to full over roughly 16 in-game hours.
  • Growing bases brown out. A recorded session running the biology loop drained its single panel-plus-battery setup mid-task and only recovered after deploying a second solar panel. If a correct tracker “stops helping”, check whether the base has simply outgrown its generation and storage.
  • Equipment resells at full price, so right-sizing panels and batteries later is cheap in recorded runs.

Checklist if it does nothing

  • Make sure you are editing the solar generator’s own script slot (manage the generator card), because self needs to refer to that generator.
  • Get the clock component and read the current elevation every pass — printing the elevation for a few seconds proves it is changing.
  • Use the tilt method from the generator docs; do not just print the calculated angle.
  • Mind capitalization on the loop condition: one recorded build rejected a lowercase true and required Python-style True (other recordings are ambiguous — treat capital True as the safe default, to be confirmed across builds).
  • If a correct script appears to stop helping, check whether your growing base has simply outgrown its current generation/storage capacity.

A quality-of-life tip from the recordings

The generator card’s variants tab saves script variants you can load into other devices later — recorded sessions flag it as the intended way to reuse a tracker script when you deploy additional panels. Related pages: temperature uplink for the step that unlocks the shop where the generator is bought, and the common errors reference for power-related false negatives. The component reference covers the generator, the battery and the clock in one place.

Evidence and version notes

The 90-degree complement rule, the elevation/tilt ranges, the one-shot-vs-loop behavior, night downtime, the ~16-hour battery fill, the second-panel fix, and the full-price resale are all taken from recorded playthroughs (closed testing and public demo builds, September 2026). The Early Access build launched September 9, 2026, and build 0.1.22 (September 13, 2026) repaired generator handling and large script operations — if a tracker script misbehaved on the launch build, re-test it after updating before rewriting the loop. If your build’s objective text differs, your build’s docs win.