What is Voltaic Energy?
Voltaic technology is a branch of cells that use a chemical reaction to produce electricity. Solar panels are a voltaic technology, specifically photo-voltaic as they use primarily the visible spectrum of light to produce energy. There are other types of voltaic technology that find purpose in Ethnis. Gamma-voltaic is similar to photo-voltaic but can absorb a much wider section of the spectrum of wavelengths and so can produce a larger amount of energy.
Photo-Voltaic
Photo-voltaic panels serve several purposes in Ethnis. They are used as a mobile power source, capable of being placed planet-side in scalable units. They can be as small as a tablet, or as large as several buildings. They can also be used in orbital arrays to power cities and even entire planets.
Small Scale
Solar Panels on a small scale are typically inlaid with different technologies to allow charging in most locations. Vehicles such as the
Trundler can use Solar Panels to help maintain a charge for their engines. Raiments and armaments can use solar paneling to allow power regeneration in the wilderness. Living quarters such as the
Habitat come with solar arrays to compliment a bio-slurry reactor.
Planet-side solar arrays are also used to power smaller cities, as improvements in battery storage and energy conversion rates have reduced the drawbacks of using solar such as battery drain and panel inefficiency.
Large Scale
For many planets, nuclear based power sources such as fusion and fission are not an option. Fusion can be too expensive and requires a well-planned infrastructure to implement, fission requires fuel that is often not producible on a planet. For these cases, orbiting solar arrays can be used to provide a constant stream of power. These satellites are paired with a series of storage sites planet-side.
Using a set of thrusters and piloted by an
Engine, these satellites maintain a
geosynchronous orbit and beam down their power to the on-planet site where it can be stored and distributed.
Gamma-Voltaic and Radiosynthesis
Gamma-Voltaic and Radiosynthesis technology are synthetic creations derived from biological processes. Similar to Photosynthesis in which plants create metabolism from sunlight, Gamma-voltaic and Radiosynthetis produce energy from radioactive wavelengths. The primary application for these two power sources is to be used in combination with other power sources such as nuclear fission.
Cultivated gamma-voltaic fungi are used in reactors and fuel enrichment sites to help cut down on the amount of shielding needed as well as provide another constant source of energy. They do not provide as much electricity per unit as solar or fission itself provides, but it is cheap to produce. It can also be used in raiments, particularly orga raiments, to allow recharging and shielding in what would be otherwise perilous circumstances.
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