Is it possible to protect your Solar System against EMP?

[Grimmster]

Yes
Disconnect everything and put it in a grounded metal box.

Grounding is not necessary.

 

[Hedges]

If the crap hits the fan with nukes, there is a big ass target on my area anyway, so I will probably not feel a thing.

It will feel like a major hurricane. Except within blast radius, that's about all it is meant to do. (within a certain radius, "hard" doesn't mean anything because molecules are disassociated into plasma.)

We can only prepare for what we have the ability to. Some metal screening(faraday cage), ferrites, surge suppression and lightning arrestors are all I can do, but its at least something.

Surviving all but a direct lighting strike should be the goal (anything inducing current, and if possible ground currents.)

I think NEMP should be relatively well understood; these guys designed the bomb with math and it worked as planned on the first try. How accurate a model has been published is the question. The higher frequencies that interact with your small system would be better understood than the lowest frequencies affecting grid. Lots of effort went into protecting systems up to the size of a plane.

 

[Eber]

When I built the wall, I included a thin metal layer on the outside, and put up metal screen mesh behind all the equipment. The batteries will be in the metal rack, and enclosed with screen wire mesh around that also.

If that unistrut is a battery rack, its pretty cool looking. Is it 12 or 14 gauge?

 

[Hedges]

Parallelogram, with no gussets. It either needs cross bracing, or to be bolted to the wall.

 

[Eber]

Agree about the saturation issue. I am using the higher priced Fair-rite cores that are tested for high saturation. The ferrites from China are mostly crap.

Would you have a link to those please? I am interested in them also

 

[JRH]

Do solar panels survive? Charge controller? Batteries? Inverter?

We are probably doomed by fallout from exploded nuclear power plants anyway in the case of emp, but do we have any EMP experts in the house?

If the big blast happens , just go outside and breath deep for a bit… you will have no worry’s soon… it will all be peacefull thereafter..

 

[Sanwizard]

If the big blast happens , just go outside and breath deep for a bit… you will have no worry’s soon… it will all be peacefull thereafter..

I Purchased mine at a garage sale from a Ham operator, but digikey carries most of the fair-rite products.

https://www.digikey.com/en/products/detail/fair-rite-products-corp/2646804502/8599578

Make sure the inside diameter is large enough for your cables, like 55mm or (.72) for larger battery cables.

If you have money, the empdoctor has everything you need.

EMP – Practical Disaster Preparedness for the Family

disasterpreparer.com

 

[gmf001]

I just saw I can get 4 x 1Gb SFP's for $64 on Amazon. Wow, prices have come down a bit on optical!
My business was Storage Area Networking and Fibre Channel, so I do have experience in that area, but in the Enterprise class gear. Any thoughts on a good 4 port residential optical ethernet switch that doesnt break the bank?

If you want inexpensive optics, look at fs.com. They are the go-to 3rd party optic supplier in my client base. They also sell low cost switches (though don't know of any enterprises using them). I expect they'd be fine for home use.

 

[houseofancients]

If you want inexpensive optics, look at fs.com. They are the go-to 3rd party optic supplier in my client base. They also sell low cost switches (though don't know of any enterprises using them). I expect they'd be fine for home use.

fully, use the both proffesionally as private..
good products, good service, great compatibility

 

[OffGridForGood]

Make sure the inside diameter is large enough for your cables, like 55mm or (.72) for larger battery cables.

55mm is 2.16 inches
.72 inches is 18mm
{were pretty much all bilingual around here}

 

[Sanwizard]

55mm is 2.16 inches
.72 inches is 18mm
{were pretty much all bilingual around here}

Thanks. Gotta stop smoking crack in the mornings... ?

 

[OffGridForGood]

gotta leave something for 4:20

 

[Skypower]

Forget about protecting the equipment. Have a spare system in a tight fitting metal box for when the the dust has settled, hopefully not hot. It’ll be cheaper in the long run than trying to harden.On the upside, you got spares.

 

[SilverbackMP]

Forget about protecting the equipment. Have a spare system in a tight fitting metal box for when the the dust has settled, hopefully not hot. It’ll be cheaper in the long run than trying to harden.On the upside, you got spares.

Two is one and one is none. I like three or more of everything lol; solar or other parts, bits, and bobs. I am going to implement a bar code system at some point for inventory control. Use one, order one. Was working on bolt bins before I went back overseas.

I need a Director of Public Works and a Director of Logistics so I can concentrate on plans and operations lol. Wifey thinks she a cross between a colonel and a sergeant major so she can work this after we come back to the states…as long as I keep her away from the G8 (finance) area. :D my plans may not get financed.

 

[OffGridForGood]

Two is one and one is none. I like three or more of everything lol;

I have to admit, @12VoltInstalls ultimately convinced me to build (in addition to my main 48 volt system) a 12 volt and a 24 volt system.., I even went so far as to make them 4S 8S and 16S with the same cells for redundancy/interchangeability/ability to series connect the smaller batteries to provide an option for the next voltage up in an emergency.
Each system is an order of magnatude apart (53kWh/5.1kWh/0.5kWh)- if we're down to the 12volt system we are on bare bones essentials only!

 

[MurphyGuy]

Forget about protecting the equipment. Have a spare system in a tight fitting metal box for when the the dust has settled, hopefully not hot. It’ll be cheaper in the long run than trying to harden.On the upside, you got spares.

That's what we've done. 5kW of solar panels on a pallet in the basement all wrapped up in aluminum sheeting.. Outback Radian 8048 behind 3 layers of steel-aluminum-aluminum, and a FlexMax80 charge controller as well.

We also keep two SunnyBoy 6kW grid tie inverters in a Faraday cage.. I got them stupidly cheap so couldn't pass it up.

Along with that stuff, we also keep several 12v to 120v inverters.. I even have a spare REC BMS in there.

In the military, there's a saying "Two is one, one is none". EDIT: Just noticed someone beat to to this one...

 

[Skypower]

Should you plan on keeping spare inverters,(or any electronics) plan on at least every few years to pull it out, precharge and run it through its paces for a day. Perhaps rotate inventory. Capacitors don’t like to sit for a long time and those things are full of them.

 

[MisterSandals]

Should you plan on keeping spare inverters,(or any electronics) plan on at least every few years to pull it out, precharge and run it through its paces for a day. Perhaps rotate inventory. Capacitors don’t like to sit for a long time and those things are full of them.

Interesting. Does this apply to electronics that have never been powered up? Or even more?

 

[Skypower]

Interesting. Does this apply to electronics that have never been powered up? Or even more?

We had some spare DC motor drives and the matching power supplies (think big industrial).
New in the box, sat for at least 5 years. They faulted when installed. The caps were bad. The tech said it’s a common problem with stuff sitting. I’m sure others can chime in.

 

[MurphyGuy]

Interesting. Does this apply to electronics that have never been powered up? Or even more?

It relates to a specific type of capacitor.. You can find more information with google. I've never had a problem, but I have heard of this before.