FCT Solar Accumulator Calculator

Important

This project is a client-side, zero-backend calculator focused on Factorio solar and accumulator balancing. It is intentionally lightweight and can be shipped as static files.

Table of Contents

• Features
• Technology Stack
• Technical Notes
  • Project Structure
  • Key Design Decisions
• Getting Started
  • Prerequisites
  • Installation
• Testing
• Deployment
• Usage
• Configuration
• License
• Community and Support
• Support the Development

Features

• Fast solar-to-accumulator ratio math using a fixed, game-oriented ratio (0.84).
• Live recalculation while typing input values (no submit button, no refresh loop).
• Power output estimation in MW based on panel count.
• Accumulator storage estimation in MJ with locale-aware number formatting.
• Multi-language UI powered by per-language profile files in profiles/.
• Persistent language preference via browser localStorage.
• No dependencies / no build step workflow for ultra-low maintenance and instant onboarding.

Tip

If you want to add another language, you only need one extra profile file and one language option in the selector.

Technology Stack

• HTML5 for semantic page structure.
• CSS3 for layout/styling.
• Vanilla JavaScript (ES6+) for calculator logic and i18n runtime behavior.
• Static asset architecture (no Node runtime, no package manager, no framework lock-in).

Technical Notes

Project Structure

solar-accumulator-calculator/
├── index.html              # Main UI skeleton
├── style.css               # Visual styling
├── script.js               # Calculator + localization runtime
├── profiles/
│   ├── en.js               # English translations
│   ├── ru.js               # Russian translations
│   └── ...                 # Additional language packs
├── README.md               # Project documentation
├── CONTRIBUTING.md         # Contribution workflow
├── CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md      # Community behavior standard
└── LICENSE                 # GPL-3.0 license

Key Design Decisions

• Pure front-end architecture: all logic runs in-browser to keep latency effectively zero and hosting dead-simple.
• Translation-per-file model: language files are decoupled from runtime logic for easier maintenance and contributor onboarding.
• No framework abstraction: minimizes cognitive overhead and makes the app easy to audit for small teams.
• Deterministic formulas: ratio and constants are hardcoded in script.js so output is predictable and reproducible.

Note

This repo optimizes for maintainability and accessibility over framework complexity.

Getting Started

Prerequisites

You only need:

• A modern browser (Chrome, Firefox, Edge, Safari).
• Optional: Python 3 if you prefer serving files through a local HTTP server.
• Optional: Git for cloning and contributing.

Installation

# 1) Clone the repo
git clone https://github.com/OstinUA/solar-accumulator-calculator.git

# 2) Enter project directory
cd solar-accumulator-calculator

# 3) Quick start: open index.html directly
# Linux
xdg-open index.html
# macOS
open index.html
# Windows (PowerShell)
start index.html

Optional local server mode:

# Serve static files on http://localhost:8000
python3 -m http.server 8000

Then open http://localhost:8000 in your browser.

Testing

Current testing model is manual smoke testing (appropriate for the current no-build static setup).

Suggested checks:

# Start local static server
python3 -m http.server 8000

Manual verification checklist:

1. Open the app in browser and input values like 1, 100, and 10000.
2. Verify accumulator count updates instantly.
3. Switch language and verify labels + units change correctly.
4. Reload page and verify language preference persists.
5. Confirm values are locale-formatted (group separators, decimal format).

Warning

There is no CI pipeline configured in this repository right now. If you add one, update badges and testing docs immediately.

Deployment

Because this is a static web app, deployment is straightforward:

• GitHub Pages: push to default branch and serve root.
• Netlify / Vercel (static mode): connect repository and deploy without build command.
• Any CDN / static host: upload files as-is.

Example (generic static host pipeline):

1. Pull latest main.
2. Validate manual smoke tests.
3. Upload index.html, style.css, script.js, and profiles/.
4. Purge CDN cache after release.

Usage

Basic usage flow:

1) Select language from dropdown.
2) Enter total number of solar panels.
3) Read calculated:
   - Required accumulators
   - Max generation (MW)
   - Total storage capacity (MJ)

Example logic snapshot:

const RATIO = 0.84;
const SOLAR_POWER = 60; // kW per panel
const ACCUMULATOR_CAPACITY = 5; // MJ per accumulator

const accumulators = Math.ceil(panels * RATIO);
const totalPowerMW = (panels * SOLAR_POWER) / 1000;
const totalStorageMJ = accumulators * ACCUMULATOR_CAPACITY;

Configuration

This project currently does not use .env or runtime server config.

Configuration points are code-level constants and language resources:

• script.js constants (RATIO, SOLAR_POWER, ACCUMULATOR_CAPACITY).
• profiles/*.js translation dictionaries.
• index.html language selector options.

Caution

If you add a new language profile but forget to register it in index.html and locale mapping in script.js, the UI will fall back and your language won’t be selectable.

License

Distributed under the GNU General Public License v3.0.

See LICENSE for full legal text.

Community and Support

Project created with the support of the FCTostin community.

Support the Development

Contacts

• GitHub: OstinUA
• Team page: FCTostin-team
• Contribution process: see CONTRIBUTING.md.