Reality check: When the power grid goes down, all grid-tie solar systems will go down with it
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger
Natural News
June 16, 2012
(NaturalNews) A lot of people believe they are becoming “power independent” by installing grid-tie solar systems, but what many don’t realize is that virtually all such systems are designed to actively go offline when the power grid goes offline.
A “grid-tie” solar system is one that ties into the power grid, pulling electricity from the grid when needed, then pushing excess electricity back into the grid when the local customer isn’t using the full capacity being generated by PV panels (photovoltaic). As long as the grid stays up, it’s a clever solution because it reduces or even eliminates the customer’s electric bills while generating “clean” energy.
Because of the very fact that these systems are tied into the power grid, however, they all have a safety feature that disconnects them from the grid when the grid goes down. In other words, if the power grid goes offline, your entire grid-tie solar array becomes instantly useless and you can’t power a laptop computer even if you have $100,000 worth of solar panels sitting on your roof. In a grid-tie system, they all are instantly shut off.
Let me be clear, because some people reading this article seem to vastly misunderstand the issue: When the power grid goes down, your entire PV array is instantly disabled by your grid-tie inverters, and you cannot use your PV array for anything! Even if the sun is shining, you will have no power from it, period. Understand?
Some early comments to this story suggested that people could simply install a throw switch that would divert the PV array to local use only. This is NOT allowed by local electrical code! Such a system is very difficult to engineer in a safe manner and would almost certainly violate local codes in nearly all U.S. cities. It simply will NOT pass inspection and will not be allowed in most areas. I spoke with top solar consultants to confirm this. At best, such a system would exist in a “grey area” of regulatory approval, I was told.
Again, most people reading this story still do not understand what I’m saying here, and I’ve backed this up with conversations with top solar experts and equipment providers around the world. When the power grid goes down, virtually all grid-tie systems go down with it. Your solar panels are instantly rendered useless and cannot be used until the city power grid is restored.
It’s a “safety” feature
Four out of five people reading this will not believe this information because it is so counter-intuitive. I spoke with architects and engineers who didn’t even know this information. They were all proven wrong. If you install a grid-tie solar system, the entire system is immediately useless when the grid goes down. You will have zero power, even if the sun is shining. Your solar array only functions when grid power is up, get it? That’s the way grid-tie systems are hard-wired. There is no BYPASS function. Grid down = solar array down, period.
What’s the reason behind all this? Because if the main power grid is down, the assumption is that a power line worker may be working on the line somewhere. If a local solar customer is feeding electricity back up the line, that can be dangerous — even deadly — to a power line worker. Thus, all grid-tie solar equipment sold today includes the “safety feature” of automatically shutting down when the grid goes down.
Or at least that’s the official explanation from the solar power companies, because there’s no explanation as to why these inverters have to shut off the local supply of power from the PV panels. Why not let the homeowner continue to have electricity from their own solar panels even if the power grid is down?
Off-grid systems
“Off-grid” systems allow precisely that. These systems, which do not tie into the power grid, run on a combination of solar panels, batteries and often a backup generator running on gasoline, diesel or propane.
Off-grid systems are ridiculously expensive to own and operate, mostly due to the cost of batteries. Today’s battery technology remains stuck in the 1800’s, meaning that even so-called “deep cycle” batteries will still last only 5 – 10 years. If you do the math on the cost of batteries for a typical off-grid system running a household of four people, you’ll come to the surprising figure that batteries alone can cost you $500 / month, each and every month that you use an off-grid system (that’s the total cost of the batteries divided by the number of months they will last).
That’s why most people don’t go with off-grid systems. Grid-tie systems cost significantly less, especially with solar panels now at rock-bottom prices thanks to China dumping them onto the U.S. market below manufacturing cost. (Right now is a great time to buy solar panels, before new tariffs kick in.)
Batteries can be eliminated in such a system by having a standby generator. The solution I personally recommend, as I have researched this in considerable detail, is to purchase a 20kw Generac generator and acquire a 1,000-gallon propane tank to power it. If you practice some simple energy conservation techniques (such as limiting use of air conditioners or heaters), you can run a typical household for 2-3 months on 1,000 gallons of propane. And if you have solar panels to help along the way, that could be stretched to 4-6 months since you’d only be using the propane fuel at night or when the sun isn’t shining.
Only an off-grid system gives you true energy independence.
Many people who buy grid-tie systems mistakenly think they’re buying off-grid systems
The kicker in all this is that many people mistakenly think they’re buying one kind of system when, in reality, they’re buying the other kind. Solar installation companies that install grid-tie systems do not necessarily inform their customers that their systems will not function when the power grid goes down. So these customers, even after spending $20,000 to $80,000 or even more, end up with a system that’s 100% dependent on the power grid!
There’s going to be a rude awakening for these people when the power grid goes down and their solar systems refuse to function. Because, for most people installing solar systems today, the whole idea is to have power when the grid goes down.
And how likely is the grid to go down? Cyber security expert David Chalk says there is a “100 percent chance” that the grid will go down in the near future due to vulnerabilities to cyber terrorism. I recently interviewed him about this subject, and you can watch that interview at:
http://tv.naturalnews.com/v.asp?v=81D036C326E439BFA82D0592925918C2
When I asked him how many months or year it might be before we suffer a catastrophic infrastructure failure of some kind, his reply was, “It’s more like a matter of days.”
His website is www.DavidChalkInc.com
Off-grid solar equipment is in short supply
As you probably suspected, the kind of solar equipment used to build off-grid systems — the kind that function without the power grid — is in very short supply. Manufacturers in Germany, Japan and China are backordered for months. Free inventory is virtually zero. Install times for new systems can now stretch out as long as six months in some cities.
If you want an off-grid solar system and you’re not already in the queue to get one, there’s very little chance you can have one in place before the prophecy date of December 21, 2012… if that even matters to you. I personally don’t put any special weight on that date, but I do believe our world is becoming increasingly unpredictable. Those who want to be safe, prepared and living with a source of electricity need to take steps now to install off-grid systems.
Don’t rely on solar installation companies to know what you want. In most cities, they automatically assume customers just want “grid-tie” systems to reduce their electric bills. So if you don’t insist on it, you’ll end up buying a grid-tie system that becomes a useless heap of dead electronics on the day the power grid dies.
Additional notes: Yes, even off-grid systems are vulnerable to solar flares and EMP attacks (dir/Technology/Solar-Panels-Sunlight-Energy.jpg). There’s no protecting fragile electronics from such events unless you keep a spare set of redundant equipment protected inside Faraday cages or wrapped in aluminum foil and stored inside galvanized aluminum trash cans. Even then, you’d have to figure out how to reinstall everything from the ground up, which would require an expert electrician.
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Syrian Intervention Matter Of When And Not If
RT
June 17, 2012
Not ‘if’ but ‘when’: US intervention in Syria on countdown
A delegation from Syrian opposition is reportedly in talks with US officials over the targets they want to attack to weaken the Syrian government and the arms they want America to provide to do it. A “Libya lite” operation in Syria may be imminent.
The unnamed US official reportedly said that “the intervention will happen. It is not a question of ‘if’ but ‘when’.”
The delegation from the Syrian Free Army is meeting with US Ambassador to Syria Robert Ford and the State Department’s expert on Syria, Fred Hof, according to a report by debkafile, an Israeli news website, which is considered to have strong ties with the intelligence community.
The Syrian rebels have brought with them two lists for American approval.
One is that of targets in Syria they want to attack to hurt President Assad’s government. The second is a list of heavy weapons they need to carry out the attacks, which they want to get from the US, the report says.
Debkafile says the Obama administration is very close to giving the green light to shipping off the weapons, most of which have already been purchased by Saudi Arabia and Qatar.
The US is also close to deciding on the format of its own military operation in Syria, which the site’s source described as “Libya lite” – a small-scale version of the no-fly zone and air strikes carried out by NATO forces in Libya, which resulted in the toppling of its leader, Muammar Gaddafi.
Earlier top US military brass told American media that the Pentagon has finalized contingency plans for a possible operation in Syria.
This follows the UN observers pulling out of Syria due to the renewed violence in the country. The mission head said neither side of the conflict was willing to observe the ceasefire any longer, which put the UN personnel at risk.
Some reports suggest that the break in the warfare helped the Syrian opposition purchase new and better weapons with the money received from sponsors in Saudi Arabia and Qatar.
Radio 3Fourteen – Tom Montalk – Alien Agendas, The Physics of Reality & Etheric Energy [audio]
Radio 3Fourteen
June 15, 2012
Red Ice Radio presents Radio 3Fourteen….
Thomas S. Minderle is an author, researcher, and musician dedicated to empowering others with practical esoteric wisdom and technical knowledge. Writing under the pen name Montalk, his writings synergize a broad spectrum of fringe subjects including metaphysics, gnosticism, ufology, hyperdimensional physics, and spiritual warriorship. He’s also the man behind the melodic metal band Neptunian Horizon. We’ll begin on the subject of alien agendas, abductions and races. Then, Tom talks about etheric energy. He ties it into the Mayan Calendar and end time prophecies. He also speaks about technologies that worked in ancient times when etheric energy levels were higher. Montalk will explain the physics behind mind over matter and changing reality. Later, we converse about the relationship between dreams and music.
Health Ranger int. David Chalk on cyber-terrorism, potential collapse of power grid, June 2012 [audio]
Natural News
June 15, 2012
Join Mike Adams in this Health Ranger Report as he interviews technology expert David Chaulk about the cyber-technology threat that exists to our world due to viruses that have been engineered to take big power systems (like power grids) down. David recently wrote a piece warning the world that the entire power grid is vulnerable to catastrophic collapse if we continue to go in the route of automation and tying the grid together. David offers solutions to these threats in this informative interview.
Learn more at:
www.DavidChalkInc.com
End the Lie Radio with Madison Ruppert – Episode 19 [audio]
End the Lie Radio with Madison Ruppert
Episode 19
June 13, 2012
End the Lie Radio with Madison Ruppert and guests, Brandon Turbeville of Activist Post (pre-recorded interview), Curt Williams of Room 101 and Bob Tuskin of the Bob Tuskin Show, discussing an interview between Adam Kokesh and Webster Tarpley at Bilderberg 2012, Rand Paul’s surprise endorsement of Romney, inherent problems with our current system and much more from 11:00 PM – 1:00 AM EST/8:00 PM – 10:00 PM PST Sundays on OrionTalkRadio.com.
http://EndtheLie.com
Support us! http://EndtheLie.com/store
http://OrionTalkRadio.com
Show page: http://bit.ly/etlradio
All material(s) used in this video that are not original or are under copyright are used under Fair Use under the Copyright Act of 1976, 17 U.S.C. § 107.
Fallout Guide for Canada…week of June 25, 2012 [video]
Rad Chick
June 23, 2012
RadChick & Jules will be on vacation this week…the fallout guides for Canada, the US & Europe will run in place of the regularly scheduled fallout forecast on the Orion Talk Radio Network.
Canadian radar: http://www.weatheroffice.gc.ca/radar/index_e.html
Jet stream forecasts & archive: http://virga.sfsu.edu/crws/jetstream.html
CONFIRMED: US CIA Arming Terrorists in Syria [video included]
As West berates Syria for “killing civilians” Western weapons flow into terrorist hands from NATO.
by Tony Cartalucci
June 22, 2012 – The New York Times in their article, “C.I.A. Said to Aid in Steering Arms to Syrian Opposition,” confirms what many have already long known – that the West, led by the US and its Gulf State proxies, have been arming terrorists, particularly the Muslim Brotherhood, while berating the Syrian government for “violating” a UN mandated ceasefire and for “failing to protect” its population.
The Muslim Brotherhood has been combated by nations across the Arab World to stem the tide of their sectarian extremism, violence, and their targeted erosion of secular nation-states. Ironically, the US which has claimed to have been fighting the forces of sectarian extremism and “terrorism” for over a decade now, have been revealed as the primary enabler of the most violent and extreme terrorist organizations in the world. These include, in addition to the Muslim Brotherhood, the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG) in Libya, Baluch terrorists in Pakistan, and the Mujahideen-e-Khalq (MEK) currently based in Iraq and being used as proxies against Iran.
Video: Professor Michel Chossudovsky of Global Research gives perhaps the most comprehensive back-story on Syria’s conflict to-date.
The New York Times claims that, “the C.I.A. officers have been in southern Turkey for several weeks, in part to help keep weapons out of the hands of fighters allied with Al Qaeda or other terrorist groups, one senior American official said,” a unsubstantiated claim that was similarly made in Libya before Al Qaeda flags were run up poles in Benghazi by rebels flush with NATO cash and arms used to collapse the government of Muammar Qaddafi. In fact, it is confirmed that Libyan LIFG rebels, led by Al Qaeda commander Abdul Hakim Belhaj, have now made their way by the hundreds to Syria (and here).
Despite months of the US claiming the “international community” sought to end the violence and protect the population of Syria, the New York Times now admits that the US is engaged in supporting a “military campaign” against the Syrian government aimed at increasing “pressure” on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Efforts to impose an arms embargo on Syria is now revealed to be one-sided, aimed at giving rebels an advantage in the prolonged bloodbath with the intent on tipping the balance in favor of Western proxy-forces – not end the violence as soon as possible as claimed by the UN, and in particular, Kofi Annan.
The Times also reported that Turkey has been directly delivering weapons to terrorists operating in Syria – Turkey being a NATO member and implicating NATO as now being directly involved in perpetuating bloodshed in the Middle Eastern nation. For months, Turkey has been allowing terrorists to use its border region as a refuge from which to stage attacks against Syria.
Despite this, however, the so-called “Free Syrian Army,” according to the New York Times, consists of only 100 or so small formations made up of “a handful of fighters to a couple of hundred combatants,” betraying the narrative that the Syrian government faces a large popular uprising, and revealing that the “Free Syrian Army” is in fact a small collection of mercenaries, foreign fighters, and sectarian extremists, armed, funded, and directed by foreign interests solely to wreak havoc within Syria. It should be noted that these terrorist proxies were organized as early as 2007 by the US, Israel, and Saudi Arabia, specifically to enact regime change and transform Syria into a Western client regime.
As the West’s propaganda campaign imploded after a torrent of unsubstantiated claims of “massacres” and “atrocities,” all unverified, some in fact being revealed as the work of the West’s sectarian proxies themselves, it appears that sidelining Syria in headlines while pursuing a clandestine proxy war is now the tactic of choice for the time being.
For the United States to claim Syria has “failed” to protect it population while simultaneously fueling the very armed conflict it claims it is seeking to end is not only hypocrisy of the highest order, but a crime against world peace – punishable under the Nuremberg precedent.
[hat tip: Activist Post]
PN 