Solar Nerd articles about: Myths

An electromagnetic pulse (EMP) is a burst of electromagnetic energy. Like any magnetic field it’s invisible, but if it’s powerful enough it can knock out electronics or even the power grid. This happens because a moving magnetic field can generate an electrical current in a conductive wire. In fact, this is how a generator works. If you take a really big moving magnetic field and apply it to a really big wire - such as the transmission wires of the electrical grid - the resulting surge of electricity could be large enough to cause widespread damage to power plants, electrical substations, and other major infrastructure.

It’s pretty darn annoying when the electronics in your life start glitching. Are you having trouble with one of your devices? Have you tried turning the thing off and then on? That usually fixes it for me. But if that doesn’t work, it’s time to track down the source of the problem. If you’re talking about a device that relies on receiving a remote signal, whether that signal is wired or wireless, electromagnetic interference (EMI) is problem that can sometimes occur.

I’ll start off by saying that I’ve been a fan of a lot of Michael Moore’s work for a long time. Updated 27 Apr 2020: Added items to the 'Additional resources' section, including a different documentary worth watching. I saw Roger and Me in the theaters back in 1989, and I thought TV Nation was funny and insightful. He’s an agitator and polemicist, but on balance his progressive brand of journalism has been a great voice for many years.

There’s a lot of myths when it comes to lightning, such as lightning never striking the same place twice, or that using an umbrella in a storm puts you at greater risk of being hit by lightning. It’s understandable: lightning is a mysterious force of nature to many, and it’s also destructive, causing over $1 billion in property damage in the United States every year. When it comes to solar panels, there’s one persistent myth, which is that putting solar panels on your home can actually attract lightning to your home.

One of the stranger myths about solar panels is that they cause cancer. The reasons given is that solar panels leak toxins or emit dangerous radiation. Neither of these are true. Solar panels do not cause cancer. A solar array doesn’t emit any more RF radiation than the electrical wires already in your home do. In any case, there is no established connection between non-ionizing RF radiation and cancer. Also, the electricity generated by solar panels is direct current (DC), which doesn’t generate electromagnetic fields like AC-carrying wires do.

You may have heard something about renewable energy technologies like wind power and solar power being bad for birds. Even Donald Trump weighed in at a rally, saying “The wind kills all your birds. All your birds, killed. You know, the environmentalists never talk about that.” So, is it true? Does solar power kill a lot of birds? The answer is no. First of all, there are different types of solar power.