EMP Readiness

[shockandawe]

This may sound crazy or fictional but I want to be prepared for an EMP ahead of all the conflicts going on in the world. After evacuating a hurricane a few months ago I realized how fast things go sour. Within days no stores had any water and gasoline was next in line to run out. For a few weeks there was limited gasoline. I understand that in the event of an EMP we are talking literally every single component with a circuit would be fried rendering everything in our lives that we own as useless. my goal is to buy a two year supply of water, food, paper products, cleaning products, razors and anything else that I may want in the event of this doomsday scenario. I understand that buying solar means nothing because they too will fry unless I never unbox my system and wrap it in tinfoil and keep it in a faraday cage. I would do the same for the products I want to survive after said event, cell phone, radio, lights, speaker, laptop. I understand there would be no internet or cellular service but I would love to keep my music to keep a sense of normality.


Here is is the part that brings me here to the solar forums, I know that I need an off grid system with a battery backup but the prices range from $49.00 (USD) to sky is the limit. I look on amazon, eBay and google but ultimately I don't know what to buy that would fit my needs. I want it reliable since it would be the only working electrical system in a great distance. I also want something that gets a good amount of wattage per panel. But again reliability is more important to me. Any and all suggestions on wireing this community believes I should keep extra supplies of. I never had solar nor have I ever setup a system, I can build computers from scratch so I am not completely a lost cause I am just not aware of any common issues these systems may run into. If this so called event does happen and six months go by and it stops working I would love to know I have an extra fuse or wire or inverter to keep me going.

I just read an article that claims 90% of the US would die within the first year after an EMP. I believe if I can survive two years then maybe by then major us cities may have limited electrical systems running. Whatever happens or may not happen I rather be prepared with an arsenal of weapons, food, and small electrical appliances. So if any of you have suggestions I would love to hear them all. Hope no one thinks I am too crazy lol.


Also sorry I didn't give this a good proof read, using the mobile site isn't the easiest when it comes to making a post.


Offgrid system
Panel(s)
battery/batteries
inverter
wiring
tinfoil hat
any other suggestions

[SunEagle]

Hello shockandawe and welcome to Solar Panel Talk

It is hard to help you size your system due to the unknowns of what you want to run off it.

I will say that IMO if there ever is an EMP event that causes the grid to go down, the power will be out for years which would mean the loss of most manufactured products and no more tv, radio, internet, cable or cell phone service to name a few.

So the question comes in, what would you need the electrical power for?

Wouldn't your money be better spent on food, water and shelter to hide in?

[NEOH]

For a PV Array & battery bank sized for an LED light & MP3 music player...
google: "SHTF SOLAR PANEL"
Many survivalist type websites have already discussed your exact question.

[morgandc]

Power for a well, irrigation and decent light to read with in the winter is what I would want. Perhaps an electric chainsaw From what I have read a lot of electrical items will survive depending on proximity, I don't think any recent studies have been done in the last one that cars were tested most were still drivable.

[Sunking]

well tap the brakes. What I say may change your mind and all you need is a bullet to shoot yourself with.

As you noted EMP will destroy solid state electronics. Tube circuits would survive as they are high voltage and very robust. So what does EMP do, or how does it fry solid state electronic? It induces very high voltage that burns out the solid state Junctions. It lets the Magic Smoke out.

So answer me this question. Your Solar Panels and Controller are solid state electronic and will burn up with EMP and be completely worthless to you. . So now the question. WTF are you going to do now knowing your idea is pure fantasy?

[NEOH]

morgandc ,
I think your questions will be better answered at the "www survivalist boards com" type website.

[morgandc]

I wasn't intending to ask questions, just responding to the prior questions as to why you would want power after an EMP

Depending on your level of paranoia you may find this interesting.

https://oversight.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Baker-Statement-5-13-EMP.pdf

[Sunking]

P I don't think any recent studies have been done in the last one that cars were tested most were still drivable.

It cannot be tested. Well it can, but takes a nuclear bomb to generate a EMP. Military has not donne that since the 60's. The level or energy is a higher magnitude man cannot wrap his noodle around.

As for studies, those have been done by military, and the military has developed EMP Arrestors.

Now for some of the scary stuff. If I were a terrorist, and could get my hands on a nuclear bomb, I am not going to attack a city. No Sir I am heading to Kansas City out in the sticks, and launch that bomb 50 mile up and detonate. No one would be killed by the blast, just a really bright flash that could blind you. From the moment the bomb detonates sends the USA back to the stone ages. Instantly you have no money, no electric power, cell phones, nothing, just darkness. Anything with solid state is a brick. The USA would fall in a matter of days and civil war would break out.

Think I am making this up? Nope straight from the military play book. The first military action if attacked by say Russia, North Korea, or China would to send EMP nuclear missiles over the country and detonate high above the country.

[AzRoute66]

Actually, we can create an EMP in the lab. And do, although not as frequently as we used to. When the wall came down, the military started going to 'commercial off the shelf' (COTS) instead of hardened specifications. That philosophy has bled into almost all acquisitions.

[jflorey2]

Here is is the part that brings me here to the solar forums, I know that I need an off grid system with a battery backup but the prices range from $49.00 (USD) to sky is the limit. I look on amazon, eBay and google but ultimately I don't know what to buy that would fit my needs.

To do this:

Buy a shipping container. Fill it with solar PV, charge controllers, inverters etc. Weld it closed. Make sure there's a weld bead along every single seam on the container.

Buy a whole lot of batteries. Type doesn't matter too much. Put them on a charge maintainer, wired with sacrificial wire. Replace the batteries regularly.

Now when the EMP comes, some of the gear in the shipping container may survive, depending on where/how high the detonation is. The batteries will survive because they are dumb lumps of chemicals. The charge maintainer / BMS won't, of course, so make sure you have a spare BMS (if needed) in that container.

After the last EMP has faded, cut open the container (best keep a gas cutting torch on hand!) Take out all the gear, test it and install it.

You'd have to be Bill Gates to afford to do all this, of course, but if you've got the money (and the land, and the manpower) - well, it's your money.

[kb58]

The irony to me is spending all your time and money on something that has a 0.01% chance of happening, while drinking and smoking result in a 40% chance of early death.

I spent enough time in survivalist forums to come to the conclusion that They would be the problem in any sort of catastrophe. I backed away from those delusional sites - avoiding all eye contact.

[Mike90250]

Cables or power leads will pick up an EMP

Solar panels long tables and other gear have to be disconnected before the EMP occurs or spare gear stored away in a Faraday Shield

As 2 survivability of panels mounted in an array, that's unknown if a voltage is developed higher than the typical forward voltage of the panel, it's likely to be damaged

[BackwoodsEE]

Here was my solution: A solar equipment shed that is constructed to be a Faraday cage. There is no gap in electrical conductivity greater than 1/2" anywhere in the enclosing surface. That includes 1/4" wire screening under the rectangle of bottom plate 2x4s forming the base, steel flashing underneath all the corners where corrugated metal sheets adjoin, and aluminum foil balled up inside the ends of the corrugated roof to maintain contact between roof and flashing.
shed.jpg


At the doors, electrical conductivity is ensured with the 1/4" screening pushing against flashing at the door frame as the door closes. Vinyl tubing inside the screen maintains pressure of the two contacting materials. It makes closing the doors a bit harder, but who cares--it's not something you do very much once the system is up and running.
shed-door.jpg


The corrugated sheet metal is screwed into the wood on the front of the door, making firm connection to the screening.

The E1 pulse from a high-altitude nuclear explosion has significant energy into the 1 GHz range, around a 30 cm minimum wavelength. Surfaces with two-dimensional conductivity at intervals of no more than a centimeter or two are opaque to such signals. As a demonstration while I was showing a friend of mine this shed, I had him call my cell phone when it was left inside, first with the door open (ring, ring...) and then closed (silence).

The connections to the shed are EMT and IMC conduit, which serves as a waveguide below cutoff frequency. Thus there is considerable attenuation of signals entering the conduit at the far ends. The wires in the conduit are very lossy transmission lines in the GHz range, probably attenuating whatever EMP energy is picked up at the solar panels by 20 dB (a factor of a hundred) or more by the time it makes its way through 150' of ferrous metal conduit. At the GFCI boxes, I've added DIN-rail mounted surge protection devices that will shunt much of whatever energy is left. A Midnite solar SPD protects the AC grid connection at the Radian inverter.

All of this extra stuff for EMP protection was pretty much second nature to me as a EE with RF/signal processing background, and didn't add much cost to the project. It was kind of fun to keep in mind as I went, looking for weak spots in the EMP protection scheme. With metal conduit and a metal equipment shed already in the plans, and with North Korea actually going so far as to talk about an EMP attack on the U.S. lately, why the heck not?

[SunEagle]

@backwoodEE

Well it looks like you spent some time and money building that cage. My hope is that you will never have to use it (similar to life insurance).

But if you do then please enjoy living off the land in what will be similar to being the 1700's.