Energy
Most Galacticraft machines require energy to operate, in the form of electricity. Galacticraft has a complete electrical system comprising generators, wires and storage units. Alternatively, generators and wires from other mods (for example, IndustrialCraft 2 (IC2)) can be used.
Energy Units
In original Galacticraft (Minecraft 1.4.7 & 1.5.2) and Galacticraft 2 (Minecraft 1.6.4), the energy units are kiloWatts (kW) and kiloJoules (kJ). A typical basic machine uses 4 kW to operate, that's 4 kJ every second. An Energy Storage Module stores 2.5 MJ, that's 2500 kJ, enough to operate one basic machine continuously for around 10 minutes. Those kW and kJ units were the equivalent of the Watts and Joules units used in Mekanism and in the Universal Electricity mods, so 1 kJ in Galacticraft was 1000 J in Mekanism.
In Galacticraft 3, the energy systems have been re-balanced and a new energy unit, the Galacticraft Joule (gJ) is used. A typical basic machine uses 600 gJ every second - less for low power machines like the Oxygen Sealer, more for high power machines like the Electric Furnace. A machine's energy usage is shown on a tooltip if you have the machine in your inventory. An Energy Storage Module stores 500,000 gJ, enough to operate one basic machine continuously for around 13 minutes.
In Galacticraft 3, the player can use the /gcenergyunits command to switch in-game displays for Galacticraft machines to any different energy units preferred. The available list includes:
- MJ from Buildcraft
- EU from IC2
- Joules (J) from Mekanism
- RF from Thermal Expansion.
Components
Types of generator:
Types of energy storage:
- Energy Storage Module
- Energy Storage Cluster (Galacticraft 3 only)
Types of wire:
- Aluminum Wire
- Heavy Aluminum Wire
- Sealable Aluminum Wire
- Sealable Heavy Aluminum Wire
- Walkway (Galacticraft 3 only)
In Galacticraft 3, instead of wires, Beam Receivers can be used to transmit energy without wires.
Energy Tiers
In Galacticraft 3 every energy component is considered to be either Tier 1 or Tier 2. The Coal Generator, Aluminum Wire, and all other basic, early-game components are Tier 1.
Tier 2 components are:
- Advanced Solar Panel
- Energy Storage Cluster
- Heavy Aluminum Wire
- Sealable Heavy Aluminum Wire
- Walkway
- Beam Receiver
- Beam Reflector
Tier 2 Machines will operate more efficiently if powered using a Tier 2 power grid - they receive a noticeable speed buff, usually between 25% and 33%.
A Tier 2 power grid is defined as:
- All wires in the grid are Heavy Aluminum Wire or equivalents (Sealable Heavy Aluminum Wire, Walkway)
- At least one power emitter sending power into the grid is Tier 2 - so it could be an Advanced Solar Panel or an Energy Storage Cluster
If you are playing Galacticraft together with IC2, then IC2 components emitting at over 120 volts (or over 120 EU per packet) are counted as Tier 2 components in Galacticraft, anything less than that is Tier 1. (Galacticraft power grids will always provide 120 volts, or up to 120 EU per packet, into IC2.)