Ways to harden your solar from EMP

[uparmor]

After reading plenty on this it looks like we need a SIDACtor Protection Thyristors. It is an ultrafast surge protector that reacts in the billionths of a second (nano). Any other type reacts to slow and you get fried components.

It looks like the lines running in could also use transient voltage suppressors and transient surge protection.

They also suggest having a backup charge controller in a cage along with other components. A few diodes would come in handy if the panels survived and the diodes didnt.

I keep 2 charge controllers as backup and a 12v panel 100w just in case. Its a small investment but would be awesome to have if everything goes dark.

[bbguns44]

Why do think there's a chance for an EMP blast ? I only know of EMP from a nuclear blast & there's bigger problems if that happens. There are no effective ways to create a potent EMP.

[westom]

Originally Posted by uparmor

After reading plenty on this it looks like we need a SIDACtor Protection Thyristors. It is an ultrafast surge protector that reacts in the billionths of a second (nano).

You are chasing a bogus parameter. All protectors are fast enough. What can cause a protector to act slower?

Speed of an MOV can change significantly when measured where leads enter its body verses a same measurement made two inches down its leads. A relevant parameter here is impedance.

Protection is always about where hundreds of thousands of joules harmlessly dissipate. And a path used to get there. Critical terms apply including low impedance (ie no sharp wire bends) and single point earth ground (ie equipotential). Since earth ground (not a protector) does protection. Then hundreds of thousands of joules harmlessly dissipate outside.

Concepts are over 100 years old. Franklin demonstrated it in 1752 with lightning rods. Again, does a rod provide protection? Of course not. It is only a connecting device to what absorbs hundreds of thousands of joules - earth ground. Does a protector do protection? Or course not. It is only a connecting device to what absorbs hundreds of thousands of joules. A protector (like a lightning rod) is only as effective as its earth ground. That applies even to avalanche diodes.

[hermosabeach]

Solar flares wiped out the telegraph system.....

[bbguns44]

"Solar flares wiped out the telegraph system..... "

"These statistics suggest that Carrington flares are once in a half-millennium events"

Yea, real important to guard against a once in 5 lifetime event.

[Sunday]

Originally Posted by bbguns44

"Solar flares wiped out the telegraph system..... "

"These statistics suggest that Carrington flares are once in a half-millennium events"

Yea, real important to guard against a once in 5 lifetime event.

Were the telegraph lines fused?

[westom]

Originally Posted by Sunday

Were the telegraph lines fused?

Fuses do not do protection. Fuses trip after damage occurs to avert fire.

Telegraph wires did not have earthed protection that has since been standard for well over 100 years.

[Bill Steele]

You probably know this OP, but If I recall correctly, a long time ago the spooks came up with a spec called Tempest. It was a project that addressed EMP hardening, The army published a bunch of guidelines for how to implement Tempest hardened facilities. A lot of that stuff is probably now in the public domain, maybe searching for some of that info will give you places to look.

I was not directly involved with anything to do with Tempest, but if I remember correctly, it was more about shielding than anything active. The science probably has progressed quite a bit since then, it was like 30 years ago.

[KevinB]

Best thing to do would be bury it about 20 feet in a bomb shelter. Any EMP big enough to effect your solar panels will be caused by a nuke and just about everything else won't matter.

We have just come thru the most and powerful solar flares in the last 50 years and the lights didn't even flicker.

Best to worry about something that "Might" happen other than something that never will.

[AZoneZenSeeker]

Originally Posted by bbguns44

"Solar flares wiped out the telegraph system..... "

"These statistics suggest that Carrington flares are once in a half-millennium events"

Yea, real important to guard against a once in 5 lifetime event.

I don't blame the OP for spending a little time protecting his possible energy source, when you consider the consequences of not being prepared.

There is a 12% chance of a disruptive solar event by 2022.
http://www.wired.com/2012/02/massive-solar-flare/

And we just missed getting blasted
http://science.nasa.gov/science-news...ul_superstorm/

However, another concern is protecting himself from those that did nothing to prepare.

Interesting book on the whole subject by Ted Koppel, "Lights Out"
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00UQERM4C...ng=UTF8&btkr=1