geomagnetic storm watch

[getakey]

The NWS issued a geomagnetic-storm watch that's effective through Friday. It warns of a potentially "strong" storm on Thursday in which electric and magnetic interference from the solar particles could interfere with power grids, GPS, and radio communications. It could even affect satellites' orbits around Earth.

A huge eruption on the sun could interfere with power grids and GPS this week. The aurora may appear from Pennsylvania to Oregon.

This will be interesting. Wonder if we will get Storm Watch in the app

 

[gpez]

This is really interesting in general but for this specific example SWPC issued just an update today revising the impact from G3 (strong) to G1 (minor) (Update - Downgrade for CME Peak Activity Forecast | NOAA / NWS Space Weather Prediction Center).

The future, I wonder how resilient the Powerwall is to geomagnetic disruptions. Something that is causing disruption to the power grid probably means your microgrid is susceptible too.

 

[jboy210]

The NWS issued a geomagnetic-storm watch that's effective through Friday. It warns of a potentially "strong" storm on Thursday in which electric and magnetic interference from the solar particles could interfere with power grids, GPS, and radio communications. It could even affect satellites' orbits around Earth.

A huge eruption on the sun could interfere with power grids and GPS this week. The aurora may appear from Pennsylvania to Oregon.

This will be interesting. Wonder if we will get Storm Watch in the app

Just when you thought 2020 could not get worse ... we get irradiated.

 

[BGbreeder]

This is really interesting in general but for this specific example SWPC issued just an update today revising the impact from G3 (strong) to G1 (minor) (Update - Downgrade for CME Peak Activity Forecast | NOAA / NWS Space Weather Prediction Center).

The future, I wonder how resilient the Powerwall is to geomagnetic disruptions. Something that is causing disruption to the power grid probably means your microgrid is susceptible too.

The geomagnetic storms induce power fluctuations on power lines because they are bursts of electrons. Think of the power grid wires as antennas. Longer wires=higher induced voltages. So, we get voltage surges/brown outs when the electrons hit. You can think of them as EMP events. If you aren't connected to the grid when they hit, the induced voltages in your home micro grid will be much smaller (short antennas in your home wiring). If you are connected to the grid, and you don't have whole house surge suppression, well, you are open to all sorts of voltage surges, but a great deal will depend on your grid and wiring, the strength of the solar flare event, and whether it ends up arriving at earth when your location is facing the sun.

We are just entering the active phase of the 11 year solar cycle. So, yes, the next five years will get more interesting, and not in a good way.

All the best,

BG

 

[gpez]

The geomagnetic storms induce power fluctuations on power lines because they are bursts of electrons. Think of the power grid wires as antennas. Longer wires=higher induced voltages. So, we get voltage surges/brown outs when the electrons hit. You can think of them as EMP events. If you aren't connected to the grid when they hit, the induced voltages in your home micro grid will be much smaller (short antennas in your home wiring). If you are connected to the grid, and you don't have whole house surge suppression, well, you are open to all sorts of voltage surges, but a great deal will depend on your grid and wiring, the strength of the solar flare event, and whether it ends up arriving at earth when your location is facing the sun.

We are just entering the active phase of the 11 year solar cycle. So, yes, the next five years will get more interesting, and not in a good way.

All the best,

BG

Er, not quite what I was getting at and not quite an accurate description of how a geomagnetic storm can affect conductors.

A geomagnetic storm is caused when bursts of particles, electrons included, disrupt the earth's magnetic field. That magnetic field disruption then in turn induces currents in any electrical conductor here on earth. Long and large wires like high voltage lines are susceptible due to their size but so are sensitive electronics such as computers because they can't tolerate more than a tiny bit of disruptive energy. The effect of a geomagnetic storm is very similar to an EMP generated by a nuclear weapon, which can disrupt both electronics and the power grid at large.

It is very possible that a sufficiently strong geomagnetic storm from a coronal mass ejections could disrupt the power grid and cause damage to your Powerwall or PV system. Even though the latter is much smaller than the whole power grid remember Powerwall is effectively an unshielded computer and PV system is just a big electromagnetic antenna on your roof! Both are quite susceptible to disruption from an EMP or geomagnetic storm. As much as the power grid though? Probably not.

 

[charlesj]

Just when you thought 2020 could not get worse ... we get irradiated.

Well, just maybe, that will clean the plane of this scourge?