[taterbill]

"1. Build your largest available ship (up to Battlecruiser) with full engines and lots of supply components, and maybe a weapon or two, and the best sensor available. These are your scouts and explorers. Send them as far as fast as possible. Follow with colony ships."

Once solar panels are available, use them and forget the supply components. Then your scouts can keep going forever. (Or at least until they meet some race that blows them up. Or they get damaged in an unstable worm hole and fall into a black hole. Or whatever.)