is there a cheap way i can get more battery charge? i keep losing all my battery power when i get into a dogfight and then I'm stuck and have to make a new save.
You don't need to make a new save, use the hand crank to jump start the ship then build solar panels to fill the batteries, alternatively a reactor + turbine + transformer will charge the batts in no time, alternatively you can dock and buy energy from station very cheap, don't forget to loot the battery cells from wrecks/drones to upgrade and fill your own batteries. Fuel cell bloc can also produce energy out of o2+h2.