Also, originally, I was attaching solar panels directly to machines. However, just as often, the power connections would connect them to _other_ machines instead of the one it was attached to. The adjustable ranges might help resolve that problem by limiting range to machines directly adjacent.
Viewing post in Nice concept, but poor implementation
Exactly. After this update, you no longer have to carefully place the solar panels to make them connect to the desired machine.
I should have fixed this a long time ago. I think I got so used to doing it myself that I forgot it was an issue.
The default connection range is now 1 meter and can be adjusted.
So the solar panel is very unlikely to connect to something you don't want it to connect to. You have a lot of control over things.
You can also set a custom default range for all machines you place in the build settings menu that is opened by pressing the '=' key.