OP-ED Kyle Mills: Terror or bio attack, nukes? No, America's greatest threat is our vulnerable electrical grid

hiwall

Has No Life - Lives on TB
As a thriller novelist, I expect to be terrified by the scenarios I explore. With bioweapons, terrorist attacks, and loose nukes as my daily companions, it takes a lot to get a rise out of me. But in researching my new book, “Total Power,” I stumbled upon what I now believe to be America’s greatest weakness: Our electrical grid.

It’s been called the most complex machine in the world and that’s probably a fair description. Three thousand three hundred utility companies, fifty-five thousand individual substations, and two hundred thousand miles of transmission lines all coordinate to meet the country’s insatiable demand for power. Unfortunately, it’s this scope and complexity that makes us so vulnerable.

And this isn’t just a theoretical threat. In 2013, a meticulously planned attack was carried out on a substation near San Jose, California. It caused fifteen million dollars in damage and looked very much like a dry run for something bigger.

None of the perpetrators were ever caught and if they are indeed plotting something more ambitious, it could be unimaginably destructive.

According to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, only nine critical substations would have to be disabled to plunge the entire country into darkness for eighteen months or more. Nine. None of which likely have much more security than the San Jose facility.

COVID has given us all a glimpse into the dangers of not being prepared for a crisis. We now have some inkling as to what it would be like to try to survive without the machinery that makes modern society possible.
Even more sobering are the cyberattacks. According to former Energy Secretary Rick Perry, malicious actors probe our systems hundreds of thousands of times a day.

One of the most serious incidents occurred in 2017 when Russian hackers penetrated deep enough to actually take control of parts of our grid. Based on testimony given to Congress by the director of the National Security Agency, a number of our enemies likely already have the ability to put the entire country in the dark.

This all leads to an obvious question. What would happen if such an attack occurred?

Grocery stores would be emptied in a matter of days and, without power, replacement products could be neither manufactured nor transported.

Critical medication would no longer be available. There would be no air-conditioning or heat. Those who live in cities would be trapped.

Cars full of people trying to escape would clog the streets, permanently blocking them with vehicles that had run out of gas while waiting in endless traffic jams.

Then, a couple of weeks in, the systems that bring water to our homes would begin to fail. And while a human can survive for a surprisingly long time without food, we die within days without fluids.

This would also lead to a breakdown in basic sanitation, contaminating whatever water sources were still available. Disease would spread and violence would erupt as people became increasingly desperate.

Normally, we could hunker down and wait for help from FEMA, the National Guard, and maybe even the U.S. military. But in a country-wide shutdown, that help would never arrive.

All those organizations operate on the principle that they can stage from places that still have power. Hurricane Sandy was a perfect example of this. While devastating to the eastern seaboard, the rest of the country remained online and able to provide assistance.

R. James Woolsey Jr., the former director of the CIA, summed it up nicely: If the power went out and stayed out for a year, between two-thirds and ninety percent of the American population would die. That’s more than both world wars and the bubonic plague combined.

Can we fix it? Yes. But not without a lot of commitment and money. We have to significantly improve our cybersecurity and create manual overrides in case our enemies find ways around those improvements.



We need to provide military bases with their own microgrids independent of the greater power supply.

We should incorporate renewables that remain operational when more traditional sources can’t be supplied with fuel or are forced to shut down for safety reasons.

We have to stockpile replacement parts that can be quickly distributed and installed.

Finally, substantial physical security will be required at the hundred or so substations that are absolutely critical to keeping America’s lights on.

The likelihood of one of our enemies mounting a significant military campaign against the American homeland is low. We have the most powerful armed forces in the world and our geographic isolation would be difficult to overcome. A surreptitious attack on our electrical infrastructure, though, is within easy reach.



COVID has given us all a glimpse into the dangers of not being prepared for a crisis. We now have some inkling as to what it would be like to try to survive without the machinery that makes modern society possible.

Based on our own government’s risk assessment and the shortages we’ve experienced during the pandemic—insignificant compared to what we would lose in the absence of our power supply—it’s difficult to think of a higher priority than making our grid is secure.

[Thread title and prefix changed to match original story - Dennis]
 
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Giskard

Only human
As I understand, mitigating steps are being taken to create "breaks" between key locations here and there, so that an EMP over one location will not trigger a cascade. BUT, I don't see how that will help with one or two high yield EMP's over the US that need not cascade to burn systems out. Separate the dominoes so one falling does not make the rest fall, but a bowling ball will still clear the decks.
 

jed turtle

a brother in the Lord
He's got a point though. Generating your own power at home is surprisingly expensive to set up and fairly complex to build.
Probably about as much Or less than what most middle class folks have invested in their retirement portfolio. You makes your choices and takes your chances.
If you are willing to do some of your own work, (Purchasing the components yourself, building the array, helping the electrician, building a battery room) you can probably build a 6 kw off-grid system for about a 1/3 of what a turnkey set would cost, at least that’s how it worked out for me.
But even with all that, one needs to consider one’s location. Solar exposure is crucial. If you have the right location, you can make it happen at least even into the northern tier of states.
 

Blacknarwhal

Let's Go Brandon!
Probably about as much Or less than what most middle class folks have invested in their retirement portfolio. You makes your choices and takes your chances.
If you are willing to do some of your own work, (Purchasing the components yourself, building the array, helping the electrician, building a battery room) you can probably build a 6 kw off-grid system for about a 1/3 of what a turnkey set would cost, at least that’s how it worked out for me.
But even with all that, one needs to consider one’s location. Solar exposure is crucial. If you have the right location, you can make it happen at least even into the northern tier of states.

True, and any backup power is better than none, but still. I live in Michigan, so I've been trying to balance between solar and wind, because we don't get a lot of sun after certain times of the year, but wind is usually available.
 

jed turtle

a brother in the Lord
True, and any backup power is better than none, but still. I live in Michigan, so I've been trying to balance between solar and wind, because we don't get a lot of sun after certain times of the year, but wind is usually available.
When the solar is less than adequate in the winter I use a gasoline generator, but I have acquired a charcoal gasifier to eventually hookup to the gasoline generator for those cloudy periods when gasoline is also unobtainium:
 

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Millwright

Knuckle Dragger
_______________
I don't see the whole country going dark, all at once.

There are too many generating sources spread out around the country.

0d250be103839ed75c51656439b0b7e0.png


Blackouts would probably be regional, depending on transmission capabilities.

Unfortunately, it’s this scope and complexity that makes us so vulnerable.

In it's scope and complexity is an ability to isolate and backfeed areas. All this can be done manually, without the network controls.

The weakest link are the transformer stations that take transmission voltage down to distribution voltage.
 

Raggedyman

Res ipsa loquitur
Probably about as much Or less than what most middle class folks have invested in their retirement portfolio. You makes your choices and takes your chances.
If you are willing to do some of your own work, (Purchasing the components yourself, building the array, helping the electrician, building a battery room) you can probably build a 6 kw off-grid system for about a 1/3 of what a turnkey set would cost, at least that’s how it worked out for me.
But even with all that, one needs to consider one’s location. Solar exposure is crucial. If you have the right location, you can make it happen at least even into the northern tier of states.

truth - but you'd also better have a backup plan for dealing with long term low light situations . . . while its true that solar collectors are more efficient in colder weather they won't function AT ALL under a two foot snow pack . . . if they're roof mounted its impractical to get up there and clean them off. a propane generator to power critical loads with adequate reserves of fuel as well as a plan for minimizing/managing/rotating those loads are important concepts
 

night driver

ESFP adrift in INTJ sea
The only way we DON'T go all at once is if the various operators are VERY FAST reflexed people with balls of titanium and are willing to hit the required relays to island their own area/region. And able to fix the stuff that breaks as they emergency island.
Mill, you have worked near and around some of that equipment. A CRASH islanding will toast a percentage of the relays, and even some of the generators if you have a problem getting the reference frequency stabilized.

I've watched a 3 phase motor with a bad phase shudder back and forth until it melted because it couldn't be reset to phase fast enough. FASCINATING to watch and suddenly you got molten copper on the floor.

Didn't take that long.

Yes we are LIKELY to be able to do a BUNCH of islanding... But I lived through the Lake Erie Loop blackout and it took 3-5 days before the power was restored to stability in a couple cities next to me.
 

Millwright

Knuckle Dragger
_______________
truth - but you'd also better have a backup plan for dealing with long term low light situations . . . while its true that solar collectors are more efficient in colder weather they won't function AT ALL under a two foot snow pack . . . if they're roof mounted its impractical to get up there and clean them off. a propane generator to power critical loads with adequate reserves of fuel as well as a plan for minimizing/managing/rotating those loads are important concepts

Best to have a layered system.

Some interesting systems here, quite a few wind products out there.


15 BEST HOME WIND TURBINES REVIEWED – THE ULTIMATE GUIDE OF 2020

 

Redleg

Veteran Member
Correct me if I'm wrong but EMP will still burn out a back up system even if storage if in effected area. If that is the case then having a back up system will be dead as well unless you can protect it. Something to think about.
 

hiwall

Has No Life - Lives on TB
We do have a solar setup at our house (3000 watt) but it is a 100% prep thing thing because it is a very stupid financial decision. Of course we are in AZ where the sun shines a lot. Our solar will pay for itself in roughly 100 years.
If we have a deep recession or a depression, I could see utility companies being slow about maintenance and slow to fix problems which could lead to some localized black outs that would last much longer than they do now.
 

Millwright

Knuckle Dragger
_______________
Correct me if I'm wrong but EMP will still burn out a back up system even if storage if in effected area. If that is the case then having a back up system will be dead as well unless you can protect it. Something to think about.

Some say not.

If it's not connected to long lines, it will probably be OK.

GOBS of discussion on this, through the years.
 

dstraito

TB Fanatic
Sometimes I think a direct attack on America would be a good thing.

Yes I know it could be horrific but it could possibly bring America together to fight a common enemy.

Right now we have been attacked for decades by enemies seeking to destroy our foundations and I am not sure we are going to survive those attacks both foreign and domestic.
 

SouthernBreeze

Has No Life - Lives on TB
Good book from 2017/2018

one second after.
It covers a group of people in small town attempting to survive. Good story line I recommend people read. I picked it up at a gun show.

I read the book, and now, I have the sequel, "One Year Later" that I haven't got around to reading, yet. The first one was really an eye opener for us.

Instead of trying to install a lot of solar arrays, we went with generators with back up fuel. Knowing that fuel won't last forever, we decided to set up for 1800's living after that. That still took a lot of money, but solar and wind isn't a very good option on our property. We checked into it, though. Not enough wind, and with only a small area of our property that gets full sun for a few hours a day, that isn't feasible either.

We do have a small solar suitcase set up to power batteries, cell phones, and small appliances.
 
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mecoastie

Veteran Member
Has this guy been hiding under a rock? This is a big no s##t. If it happens in the summer the cities and the South die from heat exhaustion. Winter the north freezes to death. THe lucky few have generators and alternate heat sources. But I also don't think it is as easy as a lot of folks make out. If it was it would have been done already.
 

Jeff Allen

Producer
A terrorist attack on our very vulnerable grid is THE REASON I prep.....

That having been said, after having a 2.5kw system all set and running at our last place....

I've decided that a very small and portable system is the preferred methond.

Why?
After Covid....do you REALLY IMAGINE that your local government will allow YOU to keep your solar system? Come now, thats total fantasy! Those greedy pricks will gut your system if not steal it outright. And as anyone who has any solar experience can tell you, everything is carefully balanced....removing 1/2 your panels or 1/2 your batteries could leave your inverter/charger in a lurch of uselessness!

How am I dealing with the fact that government is a group of power hungry thieving bastards that will leave you dead and suffering without a care in the world after they have stolen everything from you??? And if not government, your other jealous neighbors???

I have several 240 watt panels sitting in my shipping container along with a couple of charge controllers and inverters. I also have everything I need to set up a couple of battery banks with all of the lead acid batteries in all of our cars and equipment. 2 of EVERYTHING at a minimum. Quality components can be obtained for small systems at low cost.

What will I power?
Panasonic AAA and AA batteries along with our radios. I also have a very robust RV fridge from Engle that will probably last longer than I will (I'm 52), so in the summer we will have a small fridge as well. So, we will have pretty much unlimited headlight and small area light lighting. This system will also keep the batteries for all of my power tools charged as well. My generator will keep us going like normal for a week or two until we figure out the End Has Arrived....then we will switch to our long term plan with solar and hold back the generator for washing clothes each week and we should be good to go there for at least 10 years. (K1 properly treated as there is no way gasoline will last that long)

But our tiny supplemental system will keep us going for many years with the daily necessities.

J
 

Millwright

Knuckle Dragger
_______________
A terrorist attack on our very vulnerable grid is THE REASON I prep.....

That having been said, after having a 2.5kw system all set and running at our last place....

I've decided that a very small and portable system is the preferred methond.

Why?
After Covid....do you REALLY IMAGINE that your local government will allow YOU to keep your solar system? Come now, thats total fantasy! Those greedy pricks will gut your system if not steal it outright. And as anyone who has any solar experience can tell you, everything is carefully balanced....removing 1/2 your panels or 1/2 your batteries could leave your inverter/charger in a lurch of uselessness!

How am I dealing with the fact that government is a group of power hungry thieving bastards that will leave you dead and suffering without a care in the world after they have stolen everything from you??? And if not government, your other jealous neighbors???

I have several 240 watt panels sitting in my shipping container along with a couple of charge controllers and inverters. I also have everything I need to set up a couple of battery banks with all of the lead acid batteries in all of our cars and equipment. 2 of EVERYTHING at a minimum. Quality components can be obtained for small systems at low cost.

What will I power?
Panasonic AAA and AA batteries along with our radios. I also have a very robust RV fridge from Engle that will probably last longer than I will (I'm 52), so in the summer we will have a small fridge as well. So, we will have pretty much unlimited headlight and small area light lighting. This system will also keep the batteries for all of my power tools charged as well. My generator will keep us going like normal for a week or two until we figure out the End Has Arrived....then we will switch to our long term plan with solar and hold back the generator for washing clothes each week and we should be good to go there for at least 10 years. (K1 properly treated as there is no way gasoline will last that long)

But our tiny supplemental system will keep us going for many years with the daily necessities.

J

I like it.

A minimal system that keeps the truly necessary electrical needs met.

Some LED lighting and battery chargers...that's the bare essentials.

IMO, the three most important modern conveniences are running water, running hot water and refrigeration.

I like the idea of an LP fridge and have been bouncing around the idea of getting one.

The other thing that has caught my attention is the LP, water heater for camping. Not power dependent and works on demand.

I have enough generator capacity to run the shop, but it would only be used for that.
 

Millwright

Knuckle Dragger
_______________
A medium sized fridge/freezer would use about 100gal of propane per year and costs about a grand for a basic model.


A small one is $800, when you read the specs it's an easy jump to the one above.

 

Dobbin

Faithful Steed
He's got a point though. Generating your own power at home is surprisingly expensive to set up and fairly complex to build.
And relatively unreliable.

Owner has a sump-pump. About half the homes in our area do because of the near to the surface underlying rock/shale. Owner gets about 2 days of steady rain and he starts looking to the condition of his sump pumps.

And Owner has even had the grid power go off while the cellar is pumping out.

So he bought a generator.

He started with a USED Craigslist generator - $100. He fixed it up and it ran for about a week (2008 Ice Storm) until he didn't need it. Then he loaned it to a neighbor who used it overnight. While being used for the neighbor the engine threw a rod through the side of the block.

Turns out most Craigslist generators are now "beyond their service life" and subject to various maladies. Owner's friend the "Small Engine Repair Man" opines that a typical "contractor's generator" is good for about a week of continuous use - then plan on it failing. Small Engine Repair Man has a decidedly low opinion of contractor generators.

Owner now has yet another $100 generator - but he has not had to use it like the 2008 Ice Storm. The most recent try to run it as a test showed an issue with one of the "phases" (220V center ground) which Owner traced down to the plug connection between generator head and device local panel. The plug is multiple - and subject to corrosion.

Life of a contractor generator.

But the thought weighs on his mind - I can tell as Owner's search history shows he is looking at various "ex-Military" diesel generators online. Trying to get one with low hours for a good price seems to be what is holding him back.

And - of course - for long term use like nation-down grid condition, fuel might suddenly be hard to find.

Owner likes his kerosene lamps - but kerosene will probably run out before gasoline does in a grid emergency.

He now has a couple of Coleman white gas lanterns - and his solar panel and my solar LED light among others.

I don't like the dark.

Dobbin
 

Jeff Allen

Producer
I like it.

A minimal system that keeps the truly necessary electrical needs met.

Some LED lighting and battery chargers...that's the bare essentials.

IMO, the three most important modern conveniences are running water, running hot water and refrigeration.

I like the idea of an LP fridge and have been bouncing around the idea of getting one.

The other thing that has caught my attention is the LP, water heater for camping. Not power dependent and works on demand.

I have enough generator capacity to run the shop, but it would only be used for that.


LP is awesome. We will be cooking for more years than I will ever live off of LP without any problem...and thats with tanks at 4 properties I own all being transported to "the compound", so resiliency in redundancy. Lots of small tanks are way more secure than one big tank that gets a .50 round through it. BTW, on that, large tanks are 1/4" or 3/16" steel. Resistant to all common pistol calibers and pretty good against .223 and 62x39. 62x51...no so much and larger calibers they will be ventilated. I will have my tanks surrounded by "legos" so they will only be vulnerable to an up close and in person attack...and if that happens we will blow them as all is lost anyway.

Cold sponge baths would be the norm for us...of course we really do have a LOT of propane....and are literally surrounded by massive forests....so I imagine hot water would become a priority to be solved at some point. I may get around to that in a year or two...and we have gravity fed water out of our pond with about 5' of head pressure, so we won't be walking for water.

Refrigeration isn't "vital" in my book, its just a luxury, as we will be actively growing food here to supplement preps. Gardening will be very serious in year two so that we live to see year three....HOPEFULLY some sort of reasonable social order will be up and running by then.

J
 

Doc1

Has No Life - Lives on TB
Building your own off-grid power system is not impossibly complex or expensive. Also remember that even a small amount of electricity is indispensable. Too many people concentrate on whole house systems, imagining that they'll be able to flip a switch and have life go on as normal. That's possible with certain expensive systems, if you only anticipate a short-term power outage. If you expect a long-term outage, you need to readjust your priorities.

At the little Doc1 Homestead, our priorities are refrigeration/freezing, lighting and the ability to charge devices. Also, for at least a couple of months in the summer, we need air conditioning.

Our off-grid power is based on a 6 HP "listeroid" hand-cranked diesel engine, 12 volt inverters and solar panels with charge controllers. The listeroid powers a 5 KW 115 volt generator head and a 100 amp, 12 volt automotive alternator. The solar panels are completely separate and allow us to charge small battery banks. Lastly, the 12 volt inverters allow us to create 115 VAC from our vehicles if necessary. What else? We have diesel (and other) liquid fuel storage. I have a spare injector pump and a rebuild kit for the listeroid, as well.

The listeroid barely sips fuel and can run on a wide variety of fuels, including things like transmission fluid and hydraulic oil. It can even happily use vegetable oil.

Though the generator head is rated at 5 KW, the listeroid can only produce 4 KW continuously, but it can easily start heavier loads (such as compressors, cap-start motors, etc.). The listeroid will easily run window ACs and other large appliances. It can easily keep both of our freezers frozen for about a pint of fuel per day. As an adjunct to all of this, we have many 12 volt LED lights.

There are other ways to go, but this is what I chose.


Edited to note: The one pint consumption for the listeroid is NOT running it 24/7. It's only running it for an hour or so to keep the freezers cold and charge batteries.

Best
Doc
 

ArisenCarcass

Veteran Member
Instead of trying to install a lot of solar arrays, we went with generators with back up fuel. Knowing that fuel won't last forever, we decided to set up for 1800's living after that. That still took a lot of money, but solar and wind isn't a very good option on our property. We checked into it, though. Not enough wind, and with only a small area of our property that gets full sun for a few hours a day, that isn't feasible either.

We do have a small solar suitcase set up to power batteries, cell phones, and small appliances.

Here is a detailed video of the construction of a wood-gas generator to run an electrical generator in lieu of gasoline.
Using Wood to Fuel a Generator! (How to Build a Wood Gasifier w/Demonstration) (17:07)
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AyTqo4mCUUY

I also saw a video of a waste oil burning turbine.
Then there is solar and wind, man powered bicycles that use an alternator to produce 12V.
There are ways of making power on a small scale, but power isn't everything.

Regardless, a RandCorp study showed that the massive widespread starvation and infighting from the grid going down would result in a 90% population decline in the US in 6 months.
 
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hiwall

Has No Life - Lives on TB
A medium sized fridge/freezer would use about 100gal of propane per year and costs about a grand for a basic model.
If you live where the summers are warm remember that the propane fridge will be burning and producing heat inside your house all summer long.
 

Jeff Allen

Producer
Building your own off-grid power system is not impossibly complex or expensive. Also remember that even a small amount of electricity is indispensable. Too many people concentrate on whole house systems, imagining that they'll be able to flip a switch and have life go on as normal. That's possible with certain expensive systems, if you only anticipate a short-term power outage. If you expect a long-term outage, you need to readjust your priorities.

At the little Doc1 Homestead, our priorities are refrigeration/freezing, lighting and the ability to charge devices. Also, for at least a couple of months in the summer, we need air conditioning.

Our off-grid power is based on a 6 HP "listeroid" hand-cranked diesel engine, 12 volt inverters and solar panels with charge controllers. The listeroid powers a 5 KW 115 volt generator head and a 100 amp, 12 volt automotive alternator. The solar panels are completely separate and allow us to charge small battery banks. Lastly, the 12 volt inverters allow us to create 115 VAC from our vehicles if necessary. What else? We have diesel (and other) liquid fuel storage. I have a spare injector pump and a rebuild kit for the listeroid, as well.

The listeroid barely sips fuel and can run on a wide variety of fuels, including things like transmission fluid and hydraulic oil. It can even happily use vegetable oil.

Though the generator head is rated at 5 KW, the listeroid can only produce 4 KW continuously, but it can easily start heavier loads (such as compressors, cap-start motors, etc.). The listeroid will easily run window ACs and other large appliances. It can easily keep both of our freezers frozen for about a pint of fuel per day. As an adjunct to all of this, we have many 12 volt LED lights.

There are other ways to go, but this is what I chose.


Edited to note: The one pint consumption for the listeroid is NOT running it 24/7. It's only running it for an hour or so to keep the freezers cold and charge batteries.

Best
Doc
Excellent advice Doc1 IMO!

Each of us has different "x" and "x" and "x". I love it when people who have their shit together take their precious time to give others ideas to work off of! Its how I got to where I am!!! Lots of different peoples ideas melded into my own based on location, resources etc....

Hopefully others will share as well and the casual reader will take hope in the various ways they can supply that "small amount of INDISPENSABLE ELECTRICITY" in a disaster situation.

J
 

Cyclonemom

Veteran Member
I am more worried about a cyber attack than an EMP. A CME is a slight, but small concern.

And an army of woke idiots with chainsaws is now also a minor, regional concern. Enough all st once creates a problem, particularly if they were to simultaneously set the backup poles on fire.
 

SouthernBreeze

Has No Life - Lives on TB
Here is a detailed video of the construction of a wood-gas generator to run an electrical generator in lieu of gasoline.
Using Wood to Fuel a Generator! (How to Build a Wood Gasifier w/Demonstration) (17:07)
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AyTqo4mCUUY

Thanks. I'll get Cary to look at that. We have enough fuel to run our generator for about a year. The only thing that will be powered by it are my two freezers and fridge, until we either eat everything out of them, or can it up. The fridge will be cleaned out pretty quickly.

I have enough lamp oil and wicks to last my lifetime, so oil lamps are the way we chose to go with lighting purposes. I also have hundreds of candles tucked away as a last resort. We have our own rain water system in place, plus a small pond over on our neighbor's property that we have permission to use. They don't live on their property.

We heat and can cook with wood, so that's taken care of. We have a wood heater and a wood cook stove.

As for washing and drying laundry, I have two #2 washtubs and a rub board. Heating water will not be a problem for us indoors or outdoors. I have an outdoor and an indoor clothesline for drying. Also, have a secluded spot in our backyard for a bathtub and shower. Will take sponge baths indoors in the winter, or we can fill our tub in the bathroom with heated water from our wood stove or heater.
 
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LoupGarou

Ancient Fuzzball
And for the people that don't want to leave their panels and other toys out once the sun starts to go down...

Get a few of the flexible panels that have the three grommets down each side:
100W_Flexible_Panel.jpg
And a spool of paracord from somewhere like HomeDepot. Lay out the panels in one long line with all the panels in portrait orientation (taller than they are wide) with about 5 inches between each panel. Leave the connection box at the top of the panel. Run one line of paracord down behind top of the panels, leaving at least 2-3 feet extra at both ends of the line of panels. Now, run a second line across the top of the panels, BUT pull a loop of the paracord in the back, through each of the grommets in the top of the panel and run the top paracord line through each loop that you create, joining the rear and front paracord runs through the loops. Keep doing this for each panel. At either end, tie the two paracord runs together so that they are both equally taught when pulled between all of the panels. Do the same with the bottom row of grommets on the panels with two more runs of paracord, also leaving about 2-3 feet extra at both ends. Now you have a set of panels that are spaced about 4-5 inches apart so that they won't bang into each other in the wind, and so that they can be folded up quickly and brought inside. Longer sections of rope can be added to the ends of the paracord double strands so that you can attach the strand between trees, or across a roof, but still be able to pull it down quickly if needed. All you need to do extra is connect the MC4 connectors in series, run a return line from one end back to the beginning, and then hook to your MPPT charge controller.

Loup
 

Blacknarwhal

Let's Go Brandon!
Why?
After Covid....do you REALLY IMAGINE that your local government will allow YOU to keep your solar system? Come now, thats total fantasy! Those greedy pricks will gut your system if not steal it outright. And as anyone who has any solar experience can tell you, everything is carefully balanced....removing 1/2 your panels or 1/2 your batteries could leave your inverter/charger in a lurch of uselessness!

Theoretically, of course, you'll be supplementing your solar system with lead.

Those "greedy pricks" are surprisingly susceptible to large amounts of metal introduced into their systems at very high speeds.
 

Bps1691

Veteran Member
IF there is a true SHTF moment due to EMP attack or Coronal Mass Ejection you can survive it, if you've prepared but your lifestyle will be changed for the rest of your lifetime.

Those living in the USA today are spoiled and the majority honestly don't know what life was like BEFORE the country became electrified.

Yes, you can go as far as your money will take you to try to keep an advanced lifestyle without modern infrastructure. But no matter how much you spend, solar or wind with batteries can have issues plus eventually the equipment wares out. Even if you have your own hydro power setup, droughts may come. Supplies of gasoline, propane, natural gas and diesel are limited and require infrastructure to create or supply. IF you have a complete destruction of the American infrastructure sooner or later you'll find yourself facing what the Americans of pre-1930 faced.

I believe that it is most probable that there will be Islands of Electricity scattered around the country, but that almost every major population center will be toasted and without power.

The ciaos will be extraordinary. Some critical service will probably limp on using backup power for a short while, but it will be very limited and the vast majority of city dwellers will be in deep kimchi with no electricity and the public water systems failing to deliver pure water within a few short days.

Our planning is for a tight transition of a few weeks to a month on our own backup power resources until either the main sources are back up in our area or we back way off into using our plans for very limited electrical use to save the resources and living a 1930's life style.

Using the things we've planned and built like the manual pump on our drilled well for water, switching to the backup LED light circuits only in the critical areas of the house and some of the outbuildings, oil lamps in others areas and shutting down the line electricity links to prevent damage to the Auto-Transfer Switches.

Keeping the freezers on the backup system until everything can be canned, no internet- no or very limited Over Air TV --- the list goes on and on.

It's time well spent spending time on researching the pre-electric lifestyle and including that in your scenarios and plans.

Here's is just a simple article on RLBE (Rural Live Before Electricity)


There are also several books like this, which uses the Amish as a current working example:

 

To-late

Membership Revoked
We have a smaller honda gas generator, and gas stored. But we arent planning on relying on the generator any longer than the freezer and refrigerator food last. Life wont be much fun after that. But I suppose it wont be for very many others either.
 

Millwright

Knuckle Dragger
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I kinda wish these were still more widely available than they are now, even in "kit" form. They run forever, on just about anything...

Poke around here.


 
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