Ray Receiver

Power Facility

Receiving high-energy rays transmitted from the Dyson Swarm or Dyson Sphere, the received energy can be directly output to the grid or stored as photons in a critical state.

Energy Type		Ion Current
Power		6.0 MW
Made In		Assembler
Hand-Make		Replicator
Stack Size		20

1

8 s

20

10

5

20

Summary

The Ray Receiver is a building used to collect the power generated by a Dyson sphere/swarm.

Like Solar Panels, Ray Receivers require direct line of sight to the Dyson sphere to receive energy. Additionally, they become more efficient the longer they are continuously in view of the Dyson sphere. Initially, the Ray Receiver produces 6 MW and has an efficiency of 30%; at max efficiency after receiving continuous energy, it produces 15 MW and has an efficiency of 42%.

Graviton Lens

Once the player has researched the Planetary Ionosphere Utilization technology, inserting a Graviton Lens will double the power conversion of the Ray Receiver, to 30 MW at max efficiency. This consumes twice as much power from the Dyson sphere accordingly. Each Graviton Lens lasts for 10 minutes.

Additionally, if the planet has an atmosphere, the Graviton Lens makes the Ray Receiver's line-of-sight requirement more lenient by reflecting energy off the planet's ionosphere.This will not completely remove the line-of-sight requirement, as some planets may still have a dead spot (the size of which appears to depend on the planet's orbital distance from the star).

Photon Production

After researching the Dirac Inversion Mechanism technology, the Ray Receiver can be put in an alternative "Photon" mode where it produces Critical Photons. At max efficiency, the Ray Receiver produces 6 Critical Photons per minute while consuming 120 MW. These are doubled with a Graviton Lens, produces 12 Critical Photons per minute and consuming 240 MW.

Efficiency Mechanics

The Ray Receiver's efficiency can be increased with the Ray Transmission Efficiency upgrade. The upgrades stack multiplicatively.

The maximum receiving efficiency can be calculated as follows:

max receiving efficiency[%] = 100% - 70% * 0.9^small_upgrade_count * 0.85^big_upgrade_count

The upgrades give 10% more efficiency for the first 6 upgrades (small upgrades) and 15% more efficiency for the last two upgrades (big upgrades).

The continuous receiving bonus increases the actual efficiency even further. Although for values between 0% and 100% the math is very complicated, at 100% continuous receiving it simplifies to:

actual receiving efficiency[%] = 100% - 0.6 * solar ray basic energy dissipation[%], where

solar ray basic energy dissipation[%] = 100% - max receiving efficiency[%]

This is also directly visible in the "Current upgrade data" in-game.

Example for the Ray Transmission Efficiency level 10:

Max receiving efficiency: 100% - 70% * 0.9^6 * 0.85^4 = 80.58%
Solar ray basic energy dissipation: 100% - max receiving efficiency = 19.42%
Actual efficiency with 100% continuous receiving: 100% - 0.6 * 19.42% = 88.35%

The actual power draw on the Dyson Sphere can be calculated as such:

dyson_sphere_draw = (energy_output * 100) / ray_receiving_efficiency

For example, with a ray-receiving efficiency of 75%, the power draw on the Dyson sphere would be 20 MW at 100% continuous receiving.

Production Chain

Recipe	Building	Replicator?	Technology
1 8 s 20 20 10 5 20		✔

Raw Materials

Iron Ore = 530
Copper Ore = 110
Silicon Ore = 40
Stone = 120
Coal = 40

Player Tips & Tricks

On planets with a low axial inclination, place Ray Receivers at their poles for maximum exposure & efficiency. The poles of these planets are always within line of sight to the Dyson sphere/swarm.
For planets with higher axial inclination, there is no such sweet spot. With the Planetary Ionosphere Utilization technology, however, the line-of-sight restriction is largely removed as long as the Ray Receivers have a supply of Graviton Lenses.
Building Ray Receivers inside a Dyson Sphere, even just a single ring of frames at 0° Orbit Inclination, will cause the efficiency bonus to never degrade. This also works for a Dyson swarm as long as it is maintained.
Excess Graviton Lenses cannot be taken out of a Ray Receiver, nor can Critical Photons be put into one. This means that Ray Receivers cannot be chained together.