spaceweather.com is an informative site. I check it daily. Dick Ratico Solarwind Electric
--- You wrote: I have been following this lightly [ha] and the last time we went into this level of solar activity in the late 1800's there were telegraph offices that literally burst into flames. At that time we did not have the utility grid infrastructure. With today's web of power lines which seem to act like an antenna for this magnetic waves there is potential for some interesting activity. Would a solar array concentrate or just act as an antenna? I have military friends who have purchased early model diesel trucks that do not rely on computers to operate the truck in anticipation of this event. And they are asking me questions I cannot start to answer about "hardened" [shielded] electronic equipment. NASA has quite a bit of info type in - solar storm in their search bar and there are lots of related links to things like EMP bomb effects, etc. Dana Orzel - Great Solar Works, Inc - E - d...@solarwork.com - V 970.626.5253 F - 970.626.4140 C - 970.209.4076 web - www.solarwork.com "Responsible Technologies for Responsible People since 1988" P Please consider the environment before printing this email From: re-wrenches-boun...@lists.re-wrenches.org [mailto:re-wrenches-boun...@lists.re-wrenches.org] On Behalf Of Corey Shalanski Sent: Thursday, April 26, 2012 11:18 AM To: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org Subject: [RE-wrenches] Solar Modules vs. Solar Flares Greetings Wrenches, I am a new member and have been listening in for the past couple months, very grateful to have found this amazing resource. Big Up to all involved! We have a doomsday-driven customer who is apparently concerned that next year the sun will wipe out the very devices intended to harvest its energy. I have pasted a portion of his message below: "A NOVA special on PBS this evening indicated that the sun is entering a phase of maximum activity, peaking in 2013, that could include coronal mass ejections which could damage not only various components in the power grid, but also most modern electronics in cars, cell phones, etc. My solar powered back-up system is supposed to provide back-up power in the event of loss of the power grid. Has any consideration been given to the effect of solar flares or electro-magnetic pulse effects on solar panels, charge controllers, inverters and associated components? I assume that the batteries themselves would be relatively unaffected, and that the inverter would probably be at highest risk for damage either from a surge from the power grid or from damage to IC chips from an electromagnetic pulse. Are the individual solar panels particularly susceptible to such damage? Since the charge controllers and inverter are housed in metal boxes, are they essentially the same as Faraday cages, protecting the components contained inside of their respective boxes? I realize that a sufficiently strong electromagnetic pulse, whether man-made or from the sun, will probably fry most electronic devices. But I would consider spending a bit more if additional hardware, not contemplated in the current contract, might provide some additional measure of protection." I am wondering if anyone on the list has information on the potential effects of increased solar activity on PV equipment. How would you respond to this customer's concerns? -- Corey Shalanski --- end of quote --- _______________________________________________ List sponsored by Home Power magazine List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org Options & settings: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List-Archive: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List rules & etiquette: www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm Check out participant bios: www.members.re-wrenches.org
