Solar Energy System

How it worksCopy Anchor Link

1. Installation: Property managers open the property tablet (Manage Property → Solar) to purchase and install solar panels on their property.
2. Bill Offsetting: Each installed and active panel generates clean energy credits, reducing the property's electricity billing each utility cycle.
3. Panel Degradation: Over time, solar panels gather dust, grime, and environmental wear, which progressively lowers their generation efficiency.
4. Cleaning & Maintenance: Players can inspect panels from the UI or on-site and use a broom to clean dirty panels, restoring their generation capacity back to 100%.

Managing Solar in the TabletCopy Anchor Link

Inside the Solar tab on the property dashboard:

• Installed Status: Shows how many panels are installed vs. the maximum allowed limit for the property.
• Current Bill Offset: Live readout of the total dollar credit applied to the next utility cycle.
• Panel Efficiency Status: Displays individual panel health/cleanliness percentages.
• Actions: One-click installation and removal, plus panel cleaning triggers.

ConfigurationCopy Anchor Link

Solar energy mechanics are fully configurable in shared/economy.lua:

Config.Electricity = {
    -- Solar settings
    Solar = {
        Enabled = true,               -- Master toggle for solar panels
        MaxPanelsPerProperty = 8,     -- Max panels allowed per property
        InstallCost = 15000,          -- Upfront purchase price per panel
        OffsetPerPanelPerCycle = 750, -- Base electricity bill deduction per clean panel per cycle
        DegradationHours = 72,        -- Time taken to degrade from 100% to minimum efficiency
        MinEfficiency = 0.35,         -- Efficiency floor (35% output when completely dirty)
        FloorAtBaseFee = true,        -- Solar credits never reduce the bill below the standing BaseFee
        CleaningItem = 'broom',       -- Required inventory item to clean panels
    },
}

NotesCopy Anchor Link

• In Block mode, solar installations are recorded in the company transaction ledger.
• Panels are persistent and saved to the database in kp_solar.
• Solar credits apply strictly to electricity bills and do not reduce water, gas, or property tax charges.