TIE Fighter "solar panels"

Guest · Post by **Guest** » 2002-10-27 12:13am

I am looking for information pro or con considering the so-called "solar panels" on TIE fighters. I thought I had read a section about the myth on Mike's web page, but for the life of me I cannot find anything that talks about it. Can anyone give me information that discusses whether or not the panels on TIE fighters are really solar panels for their propulsion?

Thanks.

Crayz9000 · Post by **Crayz9000** » 2002-10-27 12:15am

Check out Curtis Saxton's Star Wars Technical Commentaries.

Typhonis 1 · Post by **Typhonis 1** » 2002-10-27 01:16am

arent they heat radianting panels? since there would be circumstances IE Deep Space outer Solar systemwhere Solar panels are useless

Crayz9000 · Post by **Crayz9000** » 2002-10-27 01:32am

Typhonis 1 wrote:arent they heat radianting panels? since there would be circumstances IE Deep Space outer Solar systemwhere Solar panels are useless

Yes, the heat radiating panel idea is Saxton's theory.

Isolder74 · Post by **Isolder74** » 2002-10-27 01:51am

Typhonis 1 wrote:arent they heat radianting panels? since there would be circumstances IE Deep Space outer Solar systemwhere Solar panels are useless

They could be both. in most situations they'd vent exess heat but if the Ties are operating around or near a inhabited planet then having solar panel would vastly increase thier performence(by increasing their avalible energy). Since much of combst would be around habital planets then the invenstment would not be worthless. The only caviater is that they would perform slightly worse in deep space.

Howedar · Post by **Howedar** » 2002-10-27 01:05am

It wouldn't improve their performance by much at all; TIEs demonstrate far higher power through their maneuvering that a few extra KW wouldn't matter worth a damn.

Isolder74 · Post by **Isolder74** » 2002-10-27 01:08am

Howedar wrote:It wouldn't improve their performance by much at all; TIEs demonstrate far higher power through their maneuvering that a few extra KW wouldn't matter worth a damn.

If the solar panels are efficient enough they could easilly generate a couple MWatts

Raxmei · Post by **Raxmei** » 2002-10-27 01:23am

Isolder74 wrote:
Howedar wrote:It wouldn't improve their performance by much at all; TIEs demonstrate far higher power through their maneuvering that a few extra KW wouldn't matter worth a damn.
If the solar panels are efficient enough they could easilly generate a couple MWatts

Sunlight at 1 AU is about 1 kilowatt per square meter. Even with 100% efficient solar panels you won't get that much power without getting much closer to the sun.

Howedar · Post by **Howedar** » 2002-10-27 02:20pm

Isolder74 wrote:
Howedar wrote:It wouldn't improve their performance by much at all; TIEs demonstrate far higher power through their maneuvering that a few extra KW wouldn't matter worth a damn.
If the solar panels are efficient enough they could easilly generate a couple MWatts

All right, it was hyperbole, but the point stands. Even a GW wouldn't allow the TIE to do what it does.

Slartibartfast · Post by **Slartibartfast** » 2002-10-27 02:46pm

I always thought the two big thingies were the "twin ion engines"

Guest · Post by **Guest** » 2002-10-27 05:14pm

Slartibartfast wrote:I always thought the two big thingies were the "twin ion engines"

The official site of Star Wars mentions them to be solar panels. I can only assume they would be used for collecting solar energy although it does not go into detail. Where does Starwars.com fall into the heirarchy of canon?

Post by **Mr Bean** » 2002-10-27 05:33pm

Pretty damn far down....

However it could be noted they are a *Last Ditch sort of thing just tossed on thier for the heck of it incase any TIE's reactors died and where stuck in space

However considering the cheap-mass produced nature that sounds unlikley(Or maybe not, After all the Soviets Designed a Infantry Carrier with the Gas Tank in the back door...)

Soontir C'boath · Post by **Soontir C'boath** » 2002-10-27 05:43pm

Mr Bean wrote:Pretty damn far down....

However it could be noted they are a *Last Ditch sort of thing just tossed on thier for the heck of it incase any TIE's reactors died and where stuck in space

Yea that's what i'm thinking..some kind of emergency power but that wouldn't do jack for the pilot's oxygen supply. Do they have scrubbers?

Cyaround,
Jason

Alyeska · Post by **Alyeska** » 2002-10-27 05:45pm

I find it interesting how the more powerful ties have more solar panels and larger ones as well. The Tie-D being the biggest example.

Ender · Post by **Ender** » 2002-10-27 05:58pm

It makes sense eiter way Alyeska, they need more power for those syses and they need more radiation space to get rid of the heat from the larger reactos those systems necessitate

Isolder74 · Post by **Isolder74** » 2002-10-27 07:48pm

Soontir C'boath wrote:
Mr Bean wrote:Pretty damn far down....

However it could be noted they are a *Last Ditch sort of thing just tossed on thier for the heck of it incase any TIE's reactors died and where stuck in space

Yea that's what i'm thinking..some kind of emergency power but that wouldn't do jack for the pilot's oxygen supply. Do they have scrubbers?

Cyaround,
Jason

The scrubbers would use only a few hundred watts. With large enough battery capacity and some time, the panels could charge enough for limited use in the engines. It might be enough to get a pilot back into orbit of the planet and call for help.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » 2002-10-27 08:17pm

I guess what I was trying to get at is if having solar panels on the TIE fighters seems "primitive." "Oh looky, those stupid TIE fighters rely on solar engery, that is sooooooo 20th century." <-----Some kind of crappy argument like that.

Isolder74 · Post by **Isolder74** » 2002-10-27 08:26pm

King Cosmos wrote:I guess what I was trying to get at is if having solar panels on the TIE fighters seems "primitive." "Oh looky, those stupid TIE fighters rely on solar engery, that is sooooooo 20th century." <-----Some kind of crappy argument like that.

it is obviosly not the only power source on the ship and solar cells are far from ho-humm technologies. and whats wrong with solar panels anyway if there is a laser portion of the beam then the addition of solar panels would reduce the effectivness of the laser weapon while charging my batteries. I use this as part of a defensive armor in a ship that i designed for a Sci-fi story I'm writing.

Asst. Asst. Lt. Cmdr. Smi · Post by **Asst. Asst. Lt. Cmdr. Smi** » 2002-10-27 09:37pm

Accoring to the ICS, the panels harvest solar energy to use as a reactant with the fuel, to make an low-maintenence engine with no moving parts. They might be able to be used as a "shield" to disperse side blasts as well, as an added bonus.

Dirty Harry · Post by **Dirty Harry** » 2002-10-28 08:07am

Isolder74 wrote:
Typhonis 1 wrote:arent they heat radianting panels? since there would be circumstances IE Deep Space outer Solar systemwhere Solar panels are useless
They could be both. in most situations they'd vent exess heat but if the Ties are operating around or near a inhabited planet then having solar panel would vastly increase thier performence(by increasing their avalible energy). Since much of combst would be around habital planets then the invenstment would not be worthless. The only caviater is that they would perform slightly worse in deep space.

In support of this I have a little section here from Tyrants test (page 187)
It happens when three N.R agents are caught in deep space by a Destroyer from an Imperial protecterate......
"one hundred thousand meters and opening quickly" Taisden said "Someone on the Tobay forgot that Ties have solar-electrical ion boost engines. Not much out here for them to eat. They won't catch us. Someone has figured that out,too- Tobay is accelrating now."

Knife · Post by **Knife** » 2002-10-28 12:10pm

My two cents worth.

They use the solar/heat radiators to power secondary systems allowing all primary power to run the Ion engines and weapons.

They use the power from the solar collectors to run the Ion engines in some way or other.

Crayz9000 · Post by **Crayz9000** » 2002-10-28 04:23pm

Asst. Asst. Lt. Cmdr. Smi wrote:Accoring to the ICS, the panels harvest solar energy to use as a reactant with the fuel, to make an low-maintenence engine with no moving parts. They might be able to be used as a "shield" to disperse side blasts as well, as an added bonus.

It's impossible to use energy as a reactant with fuel. What you *can* do, however, is transfer energy into the fuel to elevate the energy state of the atoms inside the fuel. The result will be, surprise, charged ions, which is exactly what an ion engine is supposed to produce.

For example, the NASA probe Deep Space 1 used an ion engine. Energy produced by its solar panels was used to ionize the fuel for the engine, which was then expelled due to opposing charges. The result was barely enough force to lift a piece of paper 1cm off the ground here on Earth, but enough to provide the probe with enough propulsion to steadily accelerate.

What I doubt, though, is that the panels are the sole means of power for the ion engines. It needs a dedicated reactor for that, since any power provided by solar panels (in the kilowatt range) would likely be insufficient for anything but emergency propulsion.

Asst. Asst. Lt. Cmdr. Smi · Post by **Asst. Asst. Lt. Cmdr. Smi** » 2002-10-28 08:07pm

I was also thinking there was some sort of generator, and the panels were needed to radiate all the heat away as an alternate theory.

Master of Ossus · Post by **Master of Ossus** » 2002-10-28 10:59pm

Isolder74 wrote:
Howedar wrote:It wouldn't improve their performance by much at all; TIEs demonstrate far higher power through their maneuvering that a few extra KW wouldn't matter worth a damn.
If the solar panels are efficient enough they could easilly generate a couple MWatts

Not really. Their surface area is so small that it would be VERY difficult for them to gain a significant amount of energy through solar radiation.

ClaysGhost · Post by **ClaysGhost** » 2002-10-29 04:19am

Crayz9000 wrote: What I doubt, though, is that the panels are the sole means of power for the ion engines. It needs a dedicated reactor for that, since any power provided by solar panels (in the kilowatt range) would likely be insufficient for anything but emergency propulsion.

It would be massively insufficient, by a factor of at least 1000 per kg of ship's mass.

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TIE Fighter "solar panels"

TIE Fighter "solar panels"

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