Battery Buffer

Battery Buffers are 's answer to configurable, scalable storage. They are partly analogous to the IndustrialCraft 2 BatBox, CESU, etc., insofar as they can store, charge, and discharge certain amounts of power. Additionally, they are configurable: the maximum amperage they can emit or consume is determined by the number of batteries in their slots.

Each Battery Buffer has an output face, indicated by an output dot. The remaining faces are input. The output face can be rotated to specific sides using a GregTech.

Slots
Battery Buffers have scaled recipes, determining the number of Battery slots they contain and the amount of voltage they can accept/emit. Each slot can contain a Battery, which can be charged therein, and which will contribute to the output power potential of the Buffer.

Note that Batteries in slots are charged and discharged concurrently, not sequentially: when being charged, each battery will increase in power simultaneously and at a (more or less) uniform rate. Likewise, while powering a system, each battery will discharge at a uniform rate.

Automation
Hoppers, or any kind of item pipes, can insert batteries to the Battery Buffer but they can only remove empty ones. Automated charging is therefore impossible, while automated discharging is feasible.

Power Specifications
Battery Buffers are the only GregTech machines other than that can emit more than 1 Amp and accept more than 4 Amps. Battery Buffers emit Amps equal to the number of Batteries they contain, and accept Amps equal to twice the number of Batteries they contain. Battery Buffers also have a small internal energy storage independent from their Batteries, to act as an intermediary between the Batteries and the rest of their connected energy networks. That internal storage is equal to the Battery Buffer's Voltage, multiplied by the number of Battery slots it contains, multiplied by 64.


 * Input example: a 4-slot MV (128V) Battery Buffer with 4 Medium Lithium Batteries can accept 8 Amps at up to 128V per tick. Each battery will attempt to charge at a rate of 2A 128V (256eu) per tick.


 * Output example: a 4-slot LV (32V) Battery Buffer with 3 Small Lithium Batteries can emit up to 3 Amps at 32V per tick. If the network requests 1A 32V (32 EU/t), each battery will discharge at a rate of 1A 32V every 3 ticks.


 * Storage example: a 9-slot HV (512V) Battery Buffer has an internal energy storage of 294,912 EU. (512 * 9 * 64)

Like most GregTech machines, the Battery Buffer can accept any voltage up to its voltage tier. This means the Battery Buffer also functions as a step-up transformer, and with enough batteries installed, can even accept more amps than a transformer would.

Batteries
The following Battery types are compatible with Battery Buffers. Note that GregTech batteries have, , and forms. These have 4x and 16x (respectively) storage capacities. Be advised that Battery Buffers will not function with batteries that do not match its Voltage (e.g. you cannot use a LV battery in a MV buffer nor an HV battery on a MV buffer.)

Tip: The Zero Point Module (ZPM) cannot be crafted or re-charged, only discharged, and can only be found as loot in Survival Mode, or spawned in Creative Mode.