Solar Flare Armageddon

[kander]

How well do you get along with everyone in your neighborhood? Which ones will be the troublemakers? Which ones would you have to worry about coming into your house at 3am and stealing what you have left? Which ones could you rely on watching out for you?

Which ones would you shoot on sight as a matter of general principle?

The ones that re-gifted the fruitcake from last year.

[AaronM]

LMAO!

[MarkP]

A solar flare is much different from a nuclear EMP. A solar flare is generally larger, covering perhaps the entire hemisphere facing that direction, but it lacks the higher frequency components that make an EMP a threat to delicate electronics. Make no mistake, a solar flare can ruin your day, in some ways worse than an EMP because it affects a larger area and simply is more likely to occur (some say getting hit by one is inevitable), and your precious electronics can definitely lose their magic smoke in such an event, but there are precautions that can protect electronics and larger systems. Appliances that are not plugged in will not be damaged by a solar flare. The average rooftop solar PV system probably won't be harmed if it is not connected to the grid. With enough forewarning even critical and for all practical purposes irreplaceable within a reasonable timeframe utility transformers can be protected by disconnecting them. Granted this would be akin to protecting the engines on an airliner in flight by shutting them off, with the intention to restart them later when it is safe of course.

Whereas a solar flare is like a tsunami capable of moving a whole house off its foundation, an EMP has some of that power but also components that are more like a hammer blow to individual items sitting on the shelf. An EMP is much less likely than a solar flare and is almost completely unpredictable and undetectable within any usable timeframe. For those of us at home electronics can be protected by wrapping them in conductive layers such as aluminum foil, then putting those wrapped items inside a galvanized trash can with a tight fitting lid for a double layer protective effect. Sure that's doable for small items but then you can't use those items while they are protected and you can't protect those items while they are being used. Plus, cars, amiright?

For me it boils down to that it would take an insanely reckless bad actor for an EMP to occur and then we would have a whole lot more to be worried about than whether our TV was still working. An oversimplification I know but not too far off. A modern day Carrington event though is almost inevitable so lets focus on that. The long transmission lines will work as giant antennae and will attempt to fry transformers on one end and all our appliances on the other end. Given enough time we can disconnect our most prized appliances. Installation of whole house surge protectors can help too. Hard core would be to disconnect major power conductors where they enter the home or preferably before they enter the home and physically separate them as much as possible from critical infrastructure. The idea is that the normal 120/240 volts will climb into the thousands of volts and that could jump normal breakers that have simply tripped or been preemptively turned off.

Clearly I have been down a prepper wormhole on the internet recently. What I also learned is that under normal conditions your electronic appliances are being insulted several times a day by voltage spikes. Lightning strikes also generate local EMPs. If we DIY types try to protect ourselves against a deliberate EMP attack by North Korea we will almost certainly fail but all our efforts will give us the robust system we should have had all along that will stand up to the mundane crap that is far more likely to render us unable to microwave popcorn.

[malahini]

How do I safely disconnect from the grid? Get an axe and wear rubber gloves?

[ChunksterK]

"How do I safely disconnect from the grid?"

I don't know if it's part of the building code or not, but most of the houses in my neighborhood have a main cutoff switch. Our place has two, an original one at the point the HELCO line connects to the house, and another that the electrician put in this year as part of the generator transfer switch in the garage.

[malahini]

"How do I safely disconnect from the grid?"

I don't know if it's part of the building code or not, but most of the houses in my neighborhood have a main cutoff switch.  Our place has two, an original one at the point the HELCO line connects to the house, and another that the electrician put in this year as part of the generator transfer switch in the garage.

Yes, I have the main breaker on the meter, and another shutdown switch for the entire solar, but power can still bleed through and fry the inverter which is what I'm worried about.

[Obie]

You need a faraday cage but a tinfoil hats works in Puna.

[eightfingers2.0]

I have a metal roof. Looks like I’m good! *




* I did see the lights flicker a couple times today.

[TomK]

You need a faraday cage but a tinfoil hats works in Puna.

The problem with tin foil hats is they only protect your brain from a solar storm, perhaps, but I guess it does protect you from government mind control, at least that's what I've heard. Tin roofs won't help unless you also surround your house with more tin. You could drape tin foil from the roof to the ground and not only protect yourself but create a nice Christmas decoration for everyone to see. As an extra touch, you could light bulbs and if we experience a major solar storm we'll all know about it while getting a nice Christmas light display.

[kalianna]

Wow, Iʻm learning all kinds of cool words on this site. Faraday cages, sock puppets, hotboxes...