The Caveman, the Devil’s Tools, and the Grid

Two teenagers are having a private moment in the hills above a
utility substation when suddenly they happen upon a terrorist
intent on bringing down their local grid. Will the teens escape
and defeat the terrorist? Yes, but only with the help of some
very modern and very real solar and smart electric
resources.

True Solar Takeaways


Terrorists have been attempting to disrupt the grid by firing
rifle shots at the transformers of utility substations. Here are
some news clips about these incidents:

FBI thwarts neo-Nazi plot to attack Baltimore Gas &
Electric substations, ‘completely destroy’ city 

Mass power outage in North Carolina caused by gunfire,
repairs could take days

Attacking the grid



Yes, indeed. There is a "Smart Summon" mode on your Tesla,
but you need to be close by. Behold. 

The smart homes of the future are here, not in the future.
There are many, many companies that offer app connections that
can control just about anything in your house through wifi and
smart plugs, including the coffee maker, the TV,  lights,
stereos, and of course garage door openers. Pretty much
everything. 

If you've only installed solar on your roof, you will
generally not be able to use the solar generation, even if the
blackout occurs when the sun is shining. That's because your
solar power will back feed into the grid and endanger the
line-people who are fixing transmission wires, so your inverter
will cut off your solar production. There are a few inverters
that will "island" and route power to your home and not the grid.
Check with your installer.

If you want your solar power to back you up, day or night,
you'll need to install a battery. However, whole home backup is
rare--and expensive. Instead, you can tell your solar+battery
installer about the "critical loads" that will be available
during a blackout, and he'll configure your battery to keep those
things running. Typically, it's the lights, refrigerator, and
other small appliances. The size of your battery will partly
determine how many hours those things will stay on. Of course,
the more things you use during a blackout, the fewer hours of
backup battery usage you'll have. Also, if you include
high-intensity loads like air conditioning or a pool pump, you'll
quickly use up your battery power in very few hours.



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