Learn how to protect your electronics from solar flare events with these essential tips and precautions. Don’t let a solar flare damage your valuable devices!
Solar Flare are natural events in which large amounts of energy are ejected from the Sun, and can cause significant impacts on household appliances and communication signals.Solar flares and coronal mass ejections are caused by magnetic field lines breaking and reconnecting. This happens most often in areas with sunspots, causing bursts of energy that manifest as eruptions. The more sunspots there are on the Sun, the more often these bursts occur.
How to Protect Electronics from Solar Flare.
One of the most essential measures to take when a storm is approaching is to unplug all appliances. After all, devices that are unplugged will be considerably more protected against power surges. It is also crucial to remember that landline phones, televisions, and even the internet conduct electrical energy, so it is necessary to unplug devices such as modems to prevent damage during storms.
A great tip for protecting your electronic devices during storms is to consider installing a general-purpose surge protection device (SPD). These devices are designed to protect not only the connected devices, but also the electrical grid itself from voltage surges caused by lightning.
If you’re worried about solar flares damaging your electronics, there are some practical things you can do:
- Keep an eye on solar activity reports, you can even use sites like Space Weather Live to find out when there is potentially dangerous flare activity.
- Unplug your electronics or make sure all vulnerable electronics are plugged into the power outlet using a surge protector.
- When purchasing electronics, you may want to purchase rugged models that are resistant to electromagnetic radiation.
- It might be a good idea to store some electronics, like a spare phone, inside a shielded container. You can find military-grade Faraday containers on sites like Amazon that you can put some essential electronics inside in case the worst happens. If the power grid goes down and your landline and cellular internet goes down, you’ll want to have a device stored in a shielded container that doesn’t depend on it. Like a walkie-talkie or, in the more expensive case, a satellite phone.
- Back up crucial data to local media such as DVDs or external hard drives or SSDs that are disconnected and powered off.
The most important thing is to take the time to prepare and respond before they happen, and to understand as much as possible about them to improve the accuracy of our predictions. The truth is, if there is a likely flare that could affect you or where you live, you or at least someone responsible will probably know about it in advance.
It is advisable to use the telephone only in emergency situations. Lightning can strike overhead telephone lines, making using the telephone a risk. If you are traveling, stay inside your car, as cars offer excellent protection from lightning.
Stay away from metal objects, especially tent structures, tents or wire fences, as they are good conductors and increase the risk of being struck by lightning .