Concentrated Solar (Fork) for 2.1
Solar heat and laser towers powered by heliostat mirrors, for Factorio 2.1.22 or newer.
Current mod version: 2.1.2.
This is a fork of Cheese's Concentrated Solar with configurable heat output, tower temperature, mirror contribution and collection radius, and laser damage and attack ranges.
What it adds
- Heliostat Mirrors reflect sunlight toward the nearest solar tower within collection range.
- Solar Power Towers turn that sunlight into heat. Use heat pipes, heat exchangers, and steam turbines to generate electricity.
- Solar Laser Towers use concentrated sunlight as a weapon, with configurable damage and minimum and maximum attack ranges. Give them enough mirrors and time to fill their firing buffer.
Why?
I wanted to be able to adjust the max temperature, how much each heliostat mirror contributes, and how far away mirrors can be. The original version kept those numbers fixed in its own files, so I made a configurable fork.
Also, considering how late this gets unlocked during a K2/SE/Rampant run, I wanted more control over the laser tower's damage and range. A turret doing 3 damage felt a little underwhelming :)
The defaults are tuned higher than the original version I forked. Adjust them to suit your factory.
What's changed for Factorio 2.1?
- Added optional Krastorio 2 Spaced Out support in 2.1.2, including current K2 glass and lithium chloride ingredients and a lithium-processing research prerequisite.
- Added optional Nullius recipes and research in 2.1.1, including late-game solar laser towers.
- Updated fluid handling and the power tower GUI for the 2.1 API.
- Native space platform sunlight follows the platform's location and changes during travel.
- Both tower types support the game's Hide tall entities mode.
- Fixed mirror registration, tower reassignment, and cleanup for automated builds and cloned entities.
- Power estimates account for quality, temperature limits, saturation, and frozen daylight.
Startup settings
These are available under Settings → Mod settings → Startup.
| Setting | Default | Minimum |
|---|---|---|
| Heliostat mirror intensity (°C contributed per mirror) | 4.26 | 0.1 |
| Solar tower collection radius (tiles) | 45 | 1 |
| Solar tower maximum intensity (°C) | 3650 | 15 |
| Solar tower heating power output (MW) | 600 | 1 |
| Solar laser tower damage modifier | 5.0 | 0.1 |
| Solar laser tower minimum attack range (tiles) | 6 | 1 |
| Solar laser tower maximum attack range (tiles) | 150 | 1 |
With Nullius, the heating power output defaults to 100 MW and remains configurable.
None of these settings has an explicit maximum. Keep the minimum laser range below the maximum.
Sunlight and power
Mirror contribution follows local sunlight. For power towers, higher quality increases each mirror's contribution until the same configured temperature ceiling is reached, so fewer mirrors are needed to reach full input.
The GUI shows estimated available heat input. Heat delivered to your network also depends on demand and stored heat. On cycling surfaces, the average includes dawn, dusk, night, and saturation. On frozen surfaces and native space platforms, it is an estimate at the current intensity, not a prediction of the ship's route.
Mod compatibility
- Space Age: native platform sunlight and tower quality support.
- Space Exploration: space placement, space-science research requirements, and local sunlight on SE surfaces and ships. Cloned towers and mirrors are registered at their destination.
- Krastorio 2: recipe and research adjustments for
Krastorio2, including its current glass and lithium chloride items. Concentrated solar research requires lithium processing. - Krastorio 2 Spaced Out 2.0.19+: K2 materials and production science, with concentrated solar research following advanced solar panels and lithium processing. Mirrors and towers work on Space Age planets and platforms.
- Nullius 2.1.2+: Nullius materials, crafting categories, and science packs. Mirrors and power towers follow Solar thermal power 2, Glassmaking 2, and Electromagnetism 2. Solar laser towers additionally require Wildlife management 2. Use Nullius heat pipes, heat exchangers, and turbines to turn tower heat into power.
- Glass and electric motors: recipes use these ingredients when the corresponding items are available.
Performance
Most mirror and tower bookkeeping happens during construction and removal, with tower and beam updates spread across ticks. Large fields still involve fluid and heat simulation, so performance will depend on the size of your setup.
You can disable beam graphics in runtime mod settings.
Languages
English, French, German, Spanish, Simplified Chinese, and Traditional Chinese are included. Some translations may still be a little rough.
What's next?
I'd like to keep improving the combat side of the mod, especially its use as an area-of-effect deterrent.