Solar Panel (Subnautica)

The Solar Panel is a generator crafted with the Habitat Builder that converts light into Energy.

It is constructed with the Habitat Builder and can be placed on any surface in any angle, including on the Foundation, except on Seabase modules (but it can be placed on a Room). It can also be damaged and destroyed by striking it with the Survival Knife three times.

A Solar Panel can transfer power up to 20 meters to a Seabase or Power Transmitter. It can store up to 50 energy.

During the day the Solar Panel receives the most sunlight and charges the most. During the evening it decreases in charge since it receives less light as the sun goes down. At midnight there is no charge at all.

Before it can be constructed the player must scan 2 Solar Panel Fragments with the Scanner. The fragments can be found in the Safe Shallows.

Solar panels cannot fill power storage for other power sources.

Energy Collection Rate
The table below contains the results of testing Solar Panel collection rates. All tests were done at midday. Please note that these are approximate results, and not exact (Sunlight % can vary slightly since the player can only see the percent to the nearest whole number).

Each Sunlight % appears to collect around .0025 units of energy per second.

Solar Panels can collect up to 200% sunlight if built on the Floater Island.