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diy solar

I am disconnecting my solar panel strings the next 36 - 48 hours.

S

sunsurfer

Solar Addict
Joined
Sep 3, 2022
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Just one wire at the SCCs. Just a precaution.

We have 6 CMEs now lined up. Might see some Auroras down south, that would be awesome. But, there is a phenomena called a bow shock that no one knows about where the earth magnetic filed gets stretched and pulled tight like a rubber band. When it snaps back, it can have a big affect not expected.

Solar flares are low frequency EMP affects, long wire runs can pick up stray currents. Last thing I want is to blow the front end of my SCCs. They are rated for 100v, I run at around 65v. Would not be hard to pick up an extra 40+v with a big solar flare. Just going to unhook 1 wire on each string.

Some thing to think about.......
 
sunsurfer said:
Just one wire at the SCCs. Just a precaution.

We have 6 CMEs now lined up. Might see some Auroras down south, that would be awesome. But, there is a phenomena called a bow shock that no one knows about where the earth magnetic filed gets stretched and pulled tight like a rubber band. When it snaps back, it can have a big affect not expected.

Solar flares are low frequency EMP affects, long wire runs can pick up stray currents. Last thing I want is to blow the front end of my SCCs. They are rated for 100v, I run at around 65v. Would not be hard to pick up an extra 40+v with a big solar flare. Just going to unhook 1 wire on each string.

Some thing to think about.......
Click to expand...

+40V? What's the mechanism for the boost in voltage? PV voltage changes very little with light intensity. If the flare produced an intensity 2X normal (from 1000W/m^2), the increase in voltage would be around 5-10%.
 
sunshine_eggo said:
+40V? What's the mechanism for the boost in voltage? PV voltage changes very little with light intensity. If the flare produced an intensity 2X normal (from 1000W/m^2), the increase in voltage would be around 5-10%.
Click to expand...
Yea, I don't know the math but I know the wave length issue with sun related EMPs. Its an electromatic/frequency combination or EMP affect.

One of my careers was as a communications engineer and I understand it well working with radio gear. The CMEs are not big enough by themselves with this one but if they stack up or PULL the earths magnetic field, they could add up to something.

No one knows, but why not spend 15 minutes for a little extra protection.
 
CME induces DC in long distance transmission lines saturating cores of AC transmission line transformers and damaging them if not disconnected. It won't affect your home PV wires since they are not long enough.

One potential scenario of concern is widespread failure of electrical transformers. Because GICs can generate unwanted direct current (DC) in transformer windings, the normally symmetric alternating current (AC) becomes offset. This offset condition drives the magnetic transformer core into saturation which creates harmonics and leads to transformer overheating. This, in turn, can shorten the life of the transformer insulation. The generated harmonics can resonate with inductances and capacitances in the power system near the transformer, which results in higher-than-nominal voltages that can affect the integrity of the transformer winding insulation. While transformers are designed to operate somewhat beyond nominal ratings, this phenomenon could lead to catastrophic transformer failure if the condition is severe enough. Of concern to the reliability of the bulk electricity system is a common-mode failure (e.g. a very large geomagnetic storm that leads to simultaneous failures of multiple power transformers and significant loss of transmission capability). Given the extensive time to either repair or replace this equipment, a prolonged outage of electrical service could occur. Even the time needed to install spare equipment and develop workaround procedures would be measured in days and weeks, which would have a significant national impact under certain circumstances [Geomagnetic Storms and Long-Term Impacts on Power Systems, PACIFIC NORTHWEST NATIONAL LABORATORY .pdf link]
Click to expand...
 
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AntronX said:
CME induces DC in long distance transmission lines saturating cores of AC transmission line transformers and damaging them if not disconnected. It won't affect your home PV wires since they are not long enough.
Click to expand...
You could be right, the only event we can reference is the Carringinton and those where LONG lines. Its all about the wavelength(frequency) and my 120' runs are a good match for low frequency EMF. Solar events are low frequency events but how low exactly, I have not looked into the actually numbers.

Still, I'm still disconnecting my strings this evening.
 
I went ahead and unhooked em while on my lunch break. KP is already at 7 which seems very early. Could be a fast moving stream of particles. Solar winds are already moving fast.
 
sunsurfer said:
Just one wire at the SCCs. Just a precaution.

We have 6 CMEs now lined up. Might see some Auroras down south, that would be awesome. But, there is a phenomena called a bow shock that no one knows about where the earth magnetic filed gets stretched and pulled tight like a rubber band. When it snaps back, it can have a big affect not expected.

Solar flares are low frequency EMP affects, long wire runs can pick up stray currents. Last thing I want is to blow the front end of my SCCs. They are rated for 100v, I run at around 65v. Would not be hard to pick up an extra 40+v with a big solar flare. Just going to unhook 1 wire on each string.

Some thing to think about.......
Click to expand...
c40b216be067b7ebb8da430dac9c491d.jpg
 
sunsurfer said:
I guess my prepper geek is showing....

My knowledge haunts me....
Click to expand...

I expect your experience is different than most. EM effect on wireless is probably a couple orders of magnitude greater than on short PV wires.

I think you should use this opportunity to conduct an experiment to see if there are any measurable effects, BUT it's your shit. Unplug it if you want.
 
sunshine_eggo said:
I expect your experience is different than most. EM effect on wireless is probably a couple orders of magnitude greater than on short PV wires.

I think you should use this opportunity to conduct an experiment to see if there are any measurable effects, BUT it's your shit. Unplug it if you want.
Click to expand...
Wires are antennas directly wired to IC components. I did damage a tv once working on a UHF radio years ago while watching a movie. If you hit the right "note" or "tune", it doesn't take much to do damage.

Luck favors the prepared. A few seconds to switch a breaker or unhook a wire is not a burden.

We know less then 1% about all of this.
 
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Texas-Mark said:
Sort of a contradictory statement, no?
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There was a special on tv back in the 90s that ran a few times and there was a segment on it. Now, I can't find any info on it. It was probably a theory that just got buried. We really only know about 1% of what is going on with our sun.
 
sunsurfer said:
There was a special on tv back in the 90s that ran a few times and there was a segment on it. Now, I can't find any info on it. It was probably a theory that just got buried. We really only know about 1% of what is going on with our sun.
Click to expand...
Probably more like .001%
 
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