Solar panel — Factorio Production Calculator
Solar panel is crafted in the assembling machine in 10 seconds, producing 1 per craft from 5 × Steel plate, 15 × Electronic circuit, 5 × Copper plate. At 60 per minute you need 20 assembling machines, and the chain behind it draws on 2 raw resources: iron ore, copper ore.
Production chain for 60 Solar panel / minute
| Item | Per minute | Machines | Machine |
|---|---|---|---|
| Copper cable | 2,700 | 22.5 | Assembling machine |
| Iron plate | 2,400 | 128 | Furnace |
| Copper plate | 1,650 | 88 | Furnace |
| Electronic circuit | 900 | 15 | Assembling machine |
| Steel plate | 300 | 80 | Furnace |
| Solar panel | 60 | 20 | Assembling machine |
Raw materials
| Resource | Per minute |
|---|---|
| Iron ore | 2,400 |
| Copper ore | 1,650 |
Machine counts are not rounded up. Add a little headroom in game — belt throughput and inserter speed usually mean you want 5-10% more than the exact number.
Solar panel recipe
| Machine | Crafting time | Output | Ingredients |
|---|---|---|---|
| Assembling machine | 10 s | 1 | Steel plate × 5, Electronic circuit × 15, Copper plate × 5 |
What the whole chain needs
60 solar panels per minute pulls in 5 intermediate products, and the whole tree comes to 354 machines across 2 machine types, fed by 2 raw resources. The table above already sums demand across every branch — if copper cable is used by two recipes, you see the total, not one of them.
Belt check: the busiest input here moves 2,400 per minute, which is 2.67 of a yellow belt's 900 per minute. Above 1.0 and you need a second belt (or a faster tier) before the machines themselves become the limit.
What uses solar panel
2 base-game recipes consume solar panel, sorted by how much each one takes:
- Satellite — 100 per craft
- Portable solar panel — 1 per craft
What solar panel is made from
- Steel plate — 5 per craft
- Electronic circuit — 15 per craft
- Copper plate — 5 per craft
FAQ
How many assembling machines do I need for 60 solar panels per minute?
20 assembling machines. One at standard speed produces 3 per minute, so 60 ÷ that number is the count. The calculator above rounds nothing — add 5-10% headroom for belt and inserter losses in a real factory.
How much raw ore does solar panel take?
At 60/min the chain consumes 2,400 iron ore per minute, 1,650 copper ore per minute. Those numbers are the theoretical minimum — mining productivity research and productivity modules both reduce them.
Is solar panel needed for science packs?
Not directly. It feeds Satellite and Portable solar panel, and those in turn feed the science packs. Open the science pack page to see the demand that lands on this recipe.
Machine counts assume bare machines at standard speed. Recipe data comes from the game's own prototypes (PlayerCalc, Factorio 2.0 base game). Not affiliated with Wube Software.