What effect would a coronal mass ejection or a solar flare have, if any, on a typical photovoltaic solar panel system found on a house?
鈥� Solar events should not affect photovoltaic panels much more than they do most other electrical equipment.
Flares and ejections deliver charged particles and associated electric and magnetic field fluctuations that induce current surges in conductors. Surges powerful enough to destroy solar panels would probably incapacitate so much infrastructure nationwide that damage to local panels would be a peripheral concern.
Advertisement
鈥淓arth鈥檚 magnetic field steers charged particles such as electrons and protons into polar auroras鈥�
As for direct impact from the charged particles 鈥� mainly electrons and protons 鈥� Earth鈥檚 magnetic field largely steers them into polar auroras, but even if the planet鈥檚 magnetic shielding were to fail completely, hardly any charged particles could penetrate our atmosphere to affect the panels.
Any increase in the intensity of light from plausible solar events would be negligible compared with the amount that the photovoltaic cells and their panels could absorb and process in their generation of power.
Hypothetical increases in the intensity of incoming visible or ultraviolet light sufficient to harm the equipment would be so deadly for living creatures that the fate of solar panels would not be a primary concern.
Jon Richfield, Somerset West, South Africa
We pay 拢25 for every answer published in 麻豆传媒. To answer this question 鈥� or ask a new one 鈥� visit newscientist.com/lastword. Terms and conditions apply.
This article appeared in print under the headline 鈥淪olar panel supernova鈥�