Emp Attack Solar Panels

Part ii of this article which will be released tomorrow will talk about what is involved in protecting larger volumes and installed panels.

Emp attack solar panels.

However the larger the solar array is the more likely that there will be damage to the supporting equipment including the wiring charge controller and inverter. Would solar panels survive an emp attack. Yes whether your solar panels are mounted on the exterior of your vehicle or carried inside they would be vulnerable to emp unless you take steps to protect them. The problem is that the solar charge controller used to charge the batteries and the voltage inverter that converts the battery power to 120 volts ac will probably be destroyed by the emp.

So unless the owner of the solar system has the foresight to store spare parts in a faraday cage their working solar panels won t do them much good. Depending on the strength of the electromagnetic pulse emp most solar panels would likely not be affected. So we ll assume the emp we described above happens sometime down the road and go from there. Solar panels like all semiconductor devices are not protected against emp check the solar event in the 1800s telegraph wires were melted fires were started anything a quarter inch long or longer will be a good antenna for an emp burst so even if the solar cells themselves were not damaged the leads to each cell will probably be destroyed.

As a golden rule expect your solar panels to have their output reduced by around ten percent maybe a little more or a little less after an emp attack. But they will continue to work and that s what important. So really will solar panels survive an emp. Here we have another asterisk because even though solar panels should technically survive an emp attack they will also be damaged.

Just like with an emp attack the inverter generator and solar panels must be properly protected well in advance otherwise they will not work. If your solar panels aren t connected to the public power grid they have a much better chance of surviving an emp attack. If there was an electromagnetic pulse would you know how to protect your solar panels from an emp. However the inverter generators will still work if they don t have an electronic control panel that runs certain engine processes.

Plus if you happen to have solar panels on your roof you can get an emp shield shunting device to protect those as well. The power grid will almost certainly be affected by an emp attack since it acts like a giant antenna stretching across the entire country that energy will be transmitted to your home and fry any electronics attached inside. Worth the small investment in emp shield devices if you ask me.