It's a thing added as of 4.86 in the Discovery mod, that when you have a certain ID mounted, you'll get a certain power-core on particular ships/equipment. In other words, when you're a Zoner, you can only use certain technology. An easy way to check what you can and can't use is this chart: http://discoverygc.com/wiki/techcompat_table.php
Just scroll down to the Zoner ID and see what technologies have 100% power... or 90% if you're fine with it, then use the wiki and check what ships are made by the faction mentioned on the chart.