Emp Effect On Solar Panels

If lightning strikes within about 500 feet your panels will be fine although the wiring and circuitry connected to them will often be destroyed.

Emp effect on solar panels.

Your solar panels are a harvesting device collecting energy from the sun. 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. Your home s solar panels after an emp. There are differences in effect and magnitude between nuclear high altitude emp nhemp or emp caused by a nuclear weapon detonated high above the earth geomagnetically induced emp giemp or emp caused by solar weather and nuclear low altitude emp nlemp or emp from a nuclear weapon detonated near the ground.

You might say electronics stored in a faraday cage are the army rations of the gadget world. Depending on the strength of the electromagnetic pulse emp most solar panels would likely not be affected. An electromagnetic pulse whether it is caused by an earth directed x class solar flare or a more nefarious man made attack will fry out fragile and antiquated power grid anything hooked to it during when the emp occurs and all sensitive electronic equipment an emp is a short but very strong burst of electromagnetic energy caused by a rapid and intense increase in charged particles in. Another way of looking at it is to pretend that the system you are trying to protect is a complex network of components that might in simplest form.

Would solar panels survive an emp attack. To learn more about rv solar panel kits click here to read our buyer s guide. You can expect a similar situation after a nuclear emp. A solar panel kit of this size should provide more than enough power in the event of an emp strike or other power outage emergency.

Because of a multitude of factors that would affect solar panels during an emp such as the magnitude of the emp event it s difficult to say for sure what kind of protection is needed to completely protect electronics from the its effects. Since there is no circuitry electromagnetic pulses have little to no effect on your 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. Get an emp hardened solar inverter.

But if damage occurs it is likely due to the wires between the solar panel and most often the solar charge controller. A solar panel itself may be inherently resistant to emp to some extent. For this reason people often purchase an extra solar panel kit such as the windynation solar panel kit. Most solar panels can survive emps caused by natural phenomenon like lightning within a close range.

What we do know is that emps are caused by both nuclear explosions and by the sun i e. 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.