Any ideas why the search function does not always work properly? For example if I look for "solar" i'll see the various types of Solar Panels, but if I search for "solar panel" nothing comes up. Does the mod not handle spaces properly? Also some items simply can't be searched for like "CPU", is the string too short?

The search compares the string you type to the item identifiers ex: "iron-plate" rather than the actual item name you see, this is a limitation of the api as it doesn't allow access to the localized strings since it'd break determinism and multiplayer.