electric generator powered by hot air /steam

I would like some help in finding a wood burning electric generator. The generator could be powered by hot air or steam.  No computer chips in it. (re EM Pulse). Many thanks in advance.

Hot air is inefficient, steam is dangerous. Look into wood gasification, there’s lots of great YouTube videos. Not terribly expensive to build. Then you simply power a gasoline generator with woodsmoke. Good luck!

Generators powered by steam are readily available and are almost entirely tasked with converting otherwise wasted excess industrial heat/steam energy to electricity. You can find many articles regarding this process such as this one. There are thousands of steam turbines available, from table top to house sized, along with controllers, etc. As you mention EMP, so assuming this is some sort of EOTWAWKI planning in which case Julie’s advice is likely most useful.

I had been researching electrical power generation in relation a new technology I’ve been posting about where scientists have developed an isomer that can gain energy from the sun (UV & blue spectrum) that changes the isomer to a stable molecule that can be stored for long periods of time and will release the energy as heat when exposed to a catalyst releases, or expresses the energy in the carrying liquid as heat, currently 63 centigrades (about 143 degrees Fahrenheit) higher than the ambient liquid temp. So 70 degree f liquid passing over the catalyst would heat to 213 degrees Fahrenheit and those numbers are expected to improve. The technology is said to use readily available methods and materials and promises a sustainable method of converting and storing energy from the sun and releasing it on demand. With improvements in the new technology, using it to generate electricity is definitely in range using off the shelf systems currently utilized to create electricity from waste heat in industry.

Thanks James, for posting the link regarding MOST technology. I’ve always wondered about something like that being possible. Interesting how technology gets us in trouble (global warming) or rescues us, depending on our use and goals.
I realize there is a lot of steam generation equipment available. I also know that without some serious training in the use of pressurized steam, a person can easily be injured or killed. It’s not exactly DIY YouTube stuff for the backyard, as it involves theory and a fair bit of math, which is why I suggested wood gas, which IS fairly simple dIY, as well as not being very hazardous.
I became interested in steam when I was younger, given how simple it seemed to use wood or concentrated solar as a heat source. I changed my mind after talking with some old timers who were demonstrating steam power sawmills and other equipment at a county fair. They convinced me that it takes a fair bit of knowledge to operate steam systems, and that slight mistakes or miscalculations can lead to serious problems (explosions). Later on I spoke with a stationary engineer who ran the power plant for a prison complex. He also suggested I stay away from steam unless I spent some time learning the complexities of it. So, to me, if someone is simply looking to make electricity with wood, it may not be the best option given the intricacies and risks, especially when a safer and simpler technology is easily available.
Definitely didn’t mean to imply that steam would not be a viable option, just that it’s a dangerous one.

James Whitelaw wrote:Generators powered by steam are readily available and are almost entirely tasked with converting otherwise wasted excess industrial heat/steam energy to electricity. You can find many articles regarding this process such as this one. There are thousands of steam turbines available, from table top to house sized, along with controllers, etc. As you mention EMP, so assuming this is some sort of EOTWAWKI planning in which case Julie’s advice is likely most useful.

I had been researching electrical power generation in relation a new technology I’ve been posting about where scientists have developed an isomer that can gain energy from the sun (UV & blue spectrum) that changes the isomer to a stable molecule that can be stored for long periods of time and will release the energy as heat when exposed to a catalyst releases, or expresses the energy in the carrying liquid as heat, currently 63 centigrade (about 143 degrees Fahrenheit) higher than the ambient liquid temp. So 70 degree f liquid passing over the catalyst would heat to 213 degrees Fahrenheit and those numbers are expected to improve. The technology is said to use readily available methods and materials and promises a sustainable method of converting and storing energy from the sun and releasing it on demand. With improvements in the new technology, using it to generate electricity is definitely in range using off the shelf systems currently utilized to create electricity from waste heat in industry.

Thanks James. Your new tech sounds very exciting.

I'm not sure what " EOTWAWKI " is but is its End of the world as we know it - then yes. I have been told most current generators manufactured have a chip in them - (perhaps for starting?) which would be blown in a pulse. So having wood gasification or gasoline or ... with a standard generator you are still SOOL. am I not? :-)

Julie Reed wrote:Thanks James, for posting the link regarding MOST technology. I’ve always wondered about something like that being possible. Interesting how technology gets us in trouble (global warming) or rescues us, depending on our use and goals.
I realize there is a lot of steam generation equipment available. I also know that without some serious training in the use of pressurized steam, a person can easily be injured or killed. It’s not exactly DIY YouTube stuff for the backyard, as it involves theory and a fair bit of math, which is why I suggested wood gas, which IS fairly simple dIY, as well as not being very hazardous.
I became interested in steam when I was younger, given how simple it seemed to use wood or concentrated solar as a heat source. I changed my mind after talking with some old timers who were demonstrating steam power sawmills and other equipment at a county fair. They convinced me that it takes a fair bit of knowledge to operate steam systems, and that slight mistakes or miscalculations can lead to serious problems (explosions). Later on I spoke with a stationary engineer who ran the power plant for a prison complex. He also suggested I stay away from steam unless I spent some time learning the complexities of it. So, to me, if someone is simply looking to make electricity with wood, it may not be the best option given the intricacies and risks, especially when a safer and simpler technology is easily available.
Definitely didn’t mean to imply that steam would not be a viable option, just that it’s a dangerous one.

Thanks Julie.  
I didn't know steam was dangerous. I would have thought that with steam engines having been around since the beginning of the industrial revolution  (steam engines for locomotives etc) the kinks have been worked out a long time ago. I remember my mom used to have a steam pressure cooker pot for the stove top. It worked fine and had a little value with a weight on top which would release pressure if you set it too high. Potatoes were cooked in ten minutes not 35.

As to your comment about hot air engines being inefficient I am not clear. My reading shows that the Stirling hot air engine can approach the Carnot efficency theshold..
"Around that time, Philips was seeking to expand sales of its radios into parts of the world where grid electricity and batteries were not consistently available. Philips' management decided that offering a low-power portable generator would facilitate such sales and asked a group of engineers at the company's research lab in Eindhoven to evaluate alternative ways of achieving this aim. After a systematic comparison of various prime movers, the team decided to go forward with the Stirling engine, citing its quiet operation (both audibly and in terms of radio interference) and ability to run on a variety of heat sources (common lamp oil – "cheap and available everywhere" – was favored).[34] They were also aware that, unlike steam and internal combustion engines, virtually no serious development work had been carried out on the Stirling engine for many years and asserted that modern materials and know-how should enable great improvements.["


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stirling_engine

By the turn of the millennium, Stirling engines were used in the dish version of Concentrated Solar Power systems. A mirrored dish similar to a very large satellite dish directs and concentrates sunlight onto a thermal receiver, which absorbs and collects the heat and using a fluid transfers it into the Stirling engine. The resulting mechanical power is then used to run a generator or alternator to produce electricity.[41]

Are you looking at buying a complete unit or building one? My brain is usually in off-grid mode, and on this forum I’m assuming people are looking for low tech DIY, so I apologize if maybe my initial response was incorrect for your purpose. I see hot air (Stirling isn’t technically hot air) or Stirling as inefficient due to all the things required to build a setup, and then further to get to the correct rpm to run a generator head because the rpm of the engine likely won’t come out at the 1800 or 3600 needed for generation. Plus in hot temps they don’t work so well without auxiliary cooling. If you did a solar setup, you have the added complication of a tracking device (and, why not just use PV to make power?). So to be ‘off-grid efficient’, to me means the entire process, not just fuel use. Thus if efficient = simple/cheap, I’d vote wood gasification. But if you are looking at buying pre-fab complete setup, Stirling may be better?
I don’t know of any ‘chip’ in modern generators. They do have a bridge rectifier, which is just diodes; I don’t know if EMF affects those. But here is a bulletproof option for a generator head- look up ‘ ST Generator Head 1 Phase for Diesel or Gas Engine 60Hz 120/240 volt’. They come in different sizes, from 3kw up to 20kw I think. I have a 12kw that cost $850 and it’s been flawless, powered by an 18hp kubota diesel. That’s way more power than many people off-grid may need, but I run a 50 amp welder and some wood shop power tools at times, and require 30 amps @ 220v for the well pump.
A stovetop pressure cooker is far simpler than a boiler unit running a steam powered engine. Yes, a lot of things have been improved over 2 centuries, but now you are back in the arena of a complicated setup with many controls and valves and circuitry managing all of it. Or you build it yourself with manual controls and hope you get it right and don’t get burned badly or worse if something goes wrong. A steam explosion is violent. Not something I’d be comfortable with, or suggest to anyone.
Hope that clarifies some of my previous comments!

Ian Sa wrote:I would like some help in finding a wood burning electric generator. The generator could be powered by hot air or steam.  No computer chips in it. (re EM Pulse). Many thanks in advance.

Ian, based on my reading I would say unless the generator happens to be running when the flare or emp occurs it should be fine. Taken one step further if the pulse was strong enough to short out a magneto in an internal combustion engine. The power generation side of the generator would also be affected whether it was turned by steam or air... While steam might seem like a good solution the boiler part of the equation is always overlooked. boilers are easy to build but hard to build safely. A boiler failure can be a catastrophic deadly event. Sterlings are interesting but while they are THERMALLY very efficient the amount of energy they can transfer from heat to shaft power is quite small... After much experimentation I settled on charcoal gasification to run small internal combustion engines as the most efficient solution for the DIY builder.
Cheers,  David

David Baillie wrote:

Ian Sa wrote:I would like some help in finding a wood burning electric generator. The generator could be powered by hot air or steam.  No computer chips in it. (re EM Pulse). Many thanks in advance.

Ian, based on my reading I would say unless the generator happens to be running when the flare or emp occurs it should be fine. Taken one step further if the pulse was strong enough to short out a magneto in an internal combustion engine. The power generation side of the generator would also be affected whether it was turned by steam or air... While steam might seem like a good solution the boiler part of the equation is always overlooked. boilers are easy to build but hard to build safely. A boiler failure can be a catastrophic deadly event. Sterlings are interesting but while they are THERMALLY very efficient the amount of energy they can transfer from heat to shaft power is quite small... After much experimentation I settled on charcoal gasification to run small internal combustion engines as the most efficient solution for the DIY builder.
Cheers,  David

Thanks David,

Reading further in the wikipedia link, it appears that a Swedes have powdered submarines with them (Sterling). I'm not saying sterling or other hot-air, but the picture I showed was of 1951 electric generator built by Philips and powering an portable generator (small power I would guess and they only made 30).

But getting back onto what I am looking for:
1. I want something with no chips in it.
2. This is for when the grid is down - for the count
3. I was hoping there is a commercially sold one.

My understanding is that all generators - connected or not are burnt-out. That is the ones powering the local water system, the gas lines, and on and on. All the cars of the last 25 years are out of commission - all their chips are gone. (connected or not).

I have delved into the rabbit hole on pulses - and it watched many Youtubes. In one they said that even if you line a room completely as long as there is a hole in the lining (e.g.) your wiring - or as you say you plug in - your computers are gone. My conclusion was that all of this is speculation and people talking through their hats. However, the only way to know is to build a EM pulse "gun" (from some microwave ovens or buy one) and zap your car/generator/whatever and see if it is toast.

So that is a rabbit hole and I'll just avoid anything with a chip in it.

Probably an old gas lawnmower with a pull-start (you know the handle with the rope) - or old outboard engine for a boat - with a pull-cord would be chip-less. Anything build prior to when they had chips in things (say 1960's ?). Anything with a push-button electronic start is probably a "no-go"

As to the power source it could be many things I don't really care - except that I am a strong environmentalist and so I'm going to go green.

My reading on hot-air engines are that they are not "power-dense" that is for lots of power in small size (like a car) they went to internal combustion and interest was lost in hot-air engines.
I short of time. I don't want to build one unless I have to.

On efficiency, internal combustion engines waste a lot of energy in heat production (like 75-90%). Wood gasification is only going to get part of the energy of the wood -(correct?).

Hi Julie,

Thanks for your thoughts.

I am not set on hot-air - read my post to David.

re:"I see hot air (Stirling isn’t technically hot air) or Stirling as inefficient due to all the things required to build a setup, and then further to get to the correct rpm to run a generator head because the rpm of the engine likely won’t come out at the 1800 or 3600 needed for generation."


see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hot_air_engine
"Stirling patented a second hot air engine, together with his brother James, in 1827. They inverted the design so that the hot ends of the displacers were underneath the machinery and they added a compressed air pump so the air within could be increased in pressure to around 20 atmospheres. It is stated by Chambers to have been unsuccessful, owing to mechanical defects and to “the unforeseen accumulation of heat, not fully extracted by the sieves or sin ill passages in the cool part of the regenerator, of which the external surface was not sufficiently large to throw off the unrecovered heat when the engine was working with highly compressed air.”

"The term "hot air engine" specifically excludes any engine performing a thermodynamic cycle in which the working fluid undergoes a phase transition, such as the Rankine cycle. Also excluded are conventional internal combustion engines, in which heat is added to the working fluid by combustion of fuel within the working cylinder. Continuous combustion types, such as George Brayton's Ready Motor and the related gas turbine, could be seen as borderline cases. "

----------------

Around that time, Philips was seeking to expand sales of its radios into parts of the world where grid electricity and batteries were not consistently available. Philips' management decided that offering a low-power portable generator would facilitate such sales and asked a group of engineers at the company's research lab in Eindhoven to evaluate alternative ways of achieving this aim. After a systematic comparison of various prime movers, the team decided to go forward with the Stirling engine, citing its quiet operation (both audibly and in terms of radio interference) and ability to run on a variety of heat sources (common lamp oil – "cheap and available everywhere" – was favored).[34] They were also aware that, unlike steam and internal combustion engines, virtually no serious development work had been carried out on the Stirling engine for many years and asserted that modern materials and know-how should enable great improvements.[35]

By 1951, the 180/200 W generator set designated MP1002CA (known as the "Bungalow set") was ready for production and an initial batch of 250 was planned, but soon it became clear that they could not be made at a competitive price. Additionally, the advent of transistor radios and their much lower power requirements meant that the original rationale for the set was disappearing. Approximately 150 of these sets were eventually produced.



source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stirling_engine




I know they use Sterlings  in CSP (concentrated solar power) where they have a field of parabolic dishes (about 15 ft is diameter) and generate electricity.

re wood gamification and electric starters - see reply to David


Personally I think Ecrisson's may be better.

Ian Sa wrote:

David Baillie wrote:

Ian Sa wrote:I would like some help in finding a wood burning electric generator. The generator could be powered by hot air or steam.  No computer chips in it. (re EM Pulse). Many thanks in advance.

Ian, based on my reading I would say unless the generator happens to be running when the flare or emp occurs it should be fine. Taken one step further if the pulse was strong enough to short out a magneto in an internal combustion engine. The power generation side of the generator would also be affected whether it was turned by steam or air... While steam might seem like a good solution the boiler part of the equation is always overlooked. boilers are easy to build but hard to build safely. A boiler failure can be a catastrophic deadly event. Sterlings are interesting but while they are THERMALLY very efficient the amount of energy they can transfer from heat to shaft power is quite small... After much experimentation I settled on charcoal gasification to run small internal combustion engines as the most efficient solution for the DIY builder.
Cheers,  David

Thanks David,

Reading further in the wikipedia link, it appears that a Swedes have powdered submarines with them (Sterling). I'm not saying sterling or other hot-air, but the picture I showed was of 1951 electric generator built by Philips and powering an portable generator (small power I would guess and they only made 30).

But getting back onto what I am looking for:
1. I want something with no chips in it.
2. This is for when the grid is down - for the count
3. I was hoping there is a commercially sold one.

My understanding is that all generators - connected or not are burnt-out. That is the ones powering the local water system, the gas lines, and on and on. All the cars of the last 25 years are out of commission - all their chips are gone. (connected or not).

I have delved into the rabbit hole on pulses - and it watched many Youtubes. In one they said that even if you line a room completely as long as there is a hole in the lining (e.g.) your wiring - or as you say you plug in - your computers are gone. My conclusion was that all of this is speculation and people talking through their hats. However, the only way to know is to build a EM pulse "gun" (from some microwave ovens or buy one) and zap your car/generator/whatever and see if it is toast.

So that is a rabbit hole and I'll just avoid anything with a chip in it.

Probably an old gas lawnmower with a pull-start (you know the handle with the rope) - or old outboard engine for a boat - with a pull-cord would be chip-less. Anything build prior to when they had chips in things (say 1960's ?). Anything with a push-button electronic start is probably a "no-go"

As to the power source it could be many things I don't really care - except that I am a strong environmentalist and so I'm going to go green.

My reading on hot-air engines are that they are not "power-dense" that is for lots of power in small size (like a car) they went to internal combustion and interest was lost in hot-air engines.
I short of time. I don't want to build one unless I have to.

On efficiency, internal combustion engines waste a lot of energy in heat production (like 75-90%). Wood gasification is only going to get part of the energy of the wood -(correct?).

HI Ian, so the sterling examples you refer to are pressurized units very expensive, very complex. Of those units their ability to use energy to produce electricity would be in line with an internal combustion engine. Approx 30 percent is transfered to shaft power in a modern IC engine. Homebuilt low pressure steam probably about 7-9 pecent The best high pressure stirlings about 30 percent to shaft power the rest to thermal energy.  Again it won't be the engine part that gets you in a pulse it will be the electrical generation equipment end that would fry on you. Usually most people looking at emp proofing equipment settle on surge protection using Ferrites and component isolation or equipment storage in emp proof containers. The US army did do some emp testing and developed emp standards for most equipment. I wish you luck on your search... If you want more EMP solutions I would recommend this book here:  https://www.amazon.com/EMP-Protect-Community-Electromagnetic-Protection-ebook/dp/B01CDFGUDU
Cheers,  David

Short answer: get a gasifier to turn wood into syngass, then send the syngas to regular gas/propane generator. https://youtu.be/a6e3CprVTi8

Long answer: are you investigating this from a SHTF/fuel shortage/EMP situation? Currently for me an EMP pulse would take out so many things in my house: cellphone/computer/TV/radio/music/mircowave/hotplate/toaster/fridge/washer/water supply. I think only my lights would be still be working.

Solar panels are actually not affected by EMP and they last very long. After 40yrs one would still get 7kW from a 10kW system. Sadly the inverters and charger controllers would be fried. So you would have to use the power directly to power whatever motor or heating elements that you have. With only heating elements and motors most communication devices are out the door, but there wouldn't be anyone to send or receive your communication/data request so it is okay.

Technically an EMP pulse wouldn't damage coils of wires like motor/transformers but it reality, if they are connected they will overheat, so they would die too, a backup generator also has coils of wires and would also be destroyed, the engine mechanically part of it would still work but the electronic and coil of wires would be dead, and it doesn't matter if the backup generator is powered by vegetable oil/alcohol/gas/propane/wood/wind/hydro/steam/etc. And even solar panel and batteries might be affected too if they are connected.

The good news is that you might not even need any electricity. With an spinning engine you can replace a motor and use that to pump water/mill grains/wash clothes and spin-dry. And with a fire you don't need a heating element. You can still heat, dry and cook stuff.

To me a good solution is to leave the electric grid now before it is a forced urgent situation. Heat with a RMH, replace the steel drum with firebricks. Do most food prep and cooking with knives and a wood stove/oven. Get some solar panel and get used to using them without any charge controller or inverter, just directly to a motor/heating element.
Electronics: Just give up on electronic communication/entertainment/education (radio/tv/internet/music/etc)
Water: Well/spring, Handpump/Direct-Solar pump, tank, ceramic filter/sand filter, water kefir grains for good microbes (there will be no grid-powered water)
Food: Fish Pond, Chickens, Nuts, Fruits+Solar Dehydrator, Beehive, Root crops, Vegetables/Herbs (there will probable be no grid electric supermarket)
Cooking/Heating: (Solar Dehydrator, Solar Oven, Grow your own biomass for fire, Rocket Stove, RMH, Passive Solar Heating, etc)
Transportation: Bicycle, Kayak/Canoe, Sailboat. (Gas pumps use electrics, ports uses electric, so all the grid will be down)
Tools: Hand Tools, lots of hand tool, both in the kitchen and workshop.
Waste Management: greywater system + septic system/composting tiolet, Use less plastic/packaging, reuse/repurpose
Laundry: Make a washer powered by bicycle, with options for it to be connected to a motor/engine/windmill/watermill, spin-dry, then air dry.
Medicine:
Clothes: Stock up on cloth and scissors, I would probably be wearing one sew warps and alot less traditional pants, if its bad enough, I dont think I will care what it looks like.

To add to S. Bengi's great post you could also check out the sol ark company which markets an emp proof certified inverter system...

Thanks David, SB and Julie

I did not know
"a backup generator also has coils of wires and would also be destroyed, the engine mechanically part of it would still work but the electronic and coil of wires would be dead, "

I guess I'll have to read more on EMP pluses. I had only thought chips were gone (do to fine wires in them). So I have read that cars built pre -chips would still run. Am I correct in understanding you in that because cars have alternators and coils (on the starter) they would not run either?

Certainly I am out of my depth to discuss high pressure or low pressure Stirlings - Phillips built on in 1951 I would imagine someone could duplicate that.

I did find a link Wood fired electric generators:
https://www.alibaba.com/showroom/wood-fired-electric-generator.html

seem pricey.

HI SB.

I would certainly like to go off-grid one day. But time and money don't allow for it now.

I am working on making the money for a green energy invention, Currently I have neither time nor money to make my own self-suffcient place in the country.

I live in the city, am renting, and can only do the small things I can. I can't move as I must live close to my elderly mother to help her.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts on a hide-a-way!

"I recently received the following question regarding EMP effects: “What will happen to vehicles with electronic ignitions, a Chevy with an ignition module, but they are not hooked to a battery, with no path for electricity to follow, can it do damage? There may not be power on the grid, but what about a generator? Can a drill that was not plugged in still be able to run?”

...

The energy from the EMP pulse wave will melt down the transistor ‘junctions’ within semiconductor electronics.
...

Will your drill stop working? Maybe. Does it have any electronic control in it other than its basic switch and coil winding?

Will your generator work? Maybe. All previous caveats and questions apply… Most all generators have electronic controlling circuits in them.


Also know that electronics are embedded in nearly everything that we use today."

source:
https://modernsurvivalblog.com/emp/will-emp-pulse-fry-anything-electronic-not-plugged-into-the-grid/

---------------------------------------------------
--my reading of the article :

The clippings form the article above imply that coils are not burnt out. Electric generator without electronic controlling circuits in them will work.

10 kW Dish-Stirling system in Font-Romeu-Odeillo, France

A Combined Heat and Power Stirling Engine Generator made by Combined Energy Technology.

Ian Sa wrote:
"I recently received the following question regarding EMP effects: “What will happen to vehicles with electronic ignitions, a Chevy with an ignition module, but they are not hooked to a battery, with no path for electricity to follow, can it do damage? There may not be power on the grid, but what about a generator? Can a drill that was not plugged in still be able to run?” ...
The energy from the EMP pulse wave will melt down the transistor ‘junctions’ within semiconductor electronics....
Will your drill stop working? Maybe. Does it have any electronic control in it other than its basic switch and coil winding?
Will your generator work? Maybe. All previous caveats and questions apply… Most all generators have electronic controlling circuits in them.
Also know that electronics are embedded in nearly everything that we use today."

source:
https://modernsurvivalblog.com/emp/will-emp-pulse-fry-anything-electronic-not-plugged-into-the-grid/
---------------------------------------------------
--my reading of the article :
The clippings form the article above imply that coils are not burnt out. Electric generator without electronic controlling circuits in them will work.

Hey Ian and Peeps-who-understand-EMP-implications well,

I am loving my offgrid life with a Pecron E2000LFP, cascade battery and solar panels.  While I have read about spaceweather / grid / electronic implications, the bottom line is that I don't even know how much I don't know about the EMP implications of disruption on my farm due to space weather following a sun coronal burp.

Backwoods Solar has this EMP/CME hardening kit
Any Permies with a good understanding of this who can help me to assess how useful this is actually likely to be? How necessary to plan for?
Please share your wisdom for me and all the other well-intentioned-but-mostly-clueless-on-this peeps here on Permies?
Thanks in advance...

Hi Kara
I went 100% of grid back in 1983; so far, I have had no problems of this nature.
The solar flares, if bad enough, could affect things, they say.
Backwoods Solar is only 60 miles from here; they have been my supplier since 1985 or so.
They are very knowledgeable and way more up on the new electronics than I am.

In the 1980s and 90s an intentional EMP from a foreign power was the big "concern" for some folks.
Now in 2026, I suspect there are much better ways to interrupt the power grid, vehicles, and other infrastructure.
The CME threat sounds much more likely.

Would it affect even stand-alone, off-grid systems?  
Maybe, but despite Backwoods selling this. I suspect it is not very likely.
Would it affect you if connected to the electric grid?   I suspect that it would.

These are just my opinions; I have no real knowledge of how likely this scenario is.
For now, I will not be rushing over to buy this kit, although I do believe that it works as advertised.

Perhaps a professional off-grid installer will reply with more information.



.

Kara Ann wrote:

Ian Sa wrote:
"I recently received the following question regarding EMP effects: “What will happen to vehicles with electronic ignitions, a Chevy with an ignition module, but they are not hooked to a battery, with no path for electricity to follow, can it do damage? There may not be power on the grid, but what about a generator? Can a drill that was not plugged in still be able to run?” ...
The energy from the EMP pulse wave will melt down the transistor ‘junctions’ within semiconductor electronics....
Will your drill stop working? Maybe. Does it have any electronic control in it other than its basic switch and coil winding?
Will your generator work? Maybe. All previous caveats and questions apply… Most all generators have electronic controlling circuits in them.
Also know that electronics are embedded in nearly everything that we use today."

source:
https://modernsurvivalblog.com/emp/will-emp-pulse-fry-anything-electronic-not-plugged-into-the-grid/
---------------------------------------------------
--my reading of the article :
The clippings form the article above imply that coils are not burnt out. Electric generator without electronic controlling circuits in them will work.

Hey Ian and Peeps-who-understand-EMP-implications well,

I am loving my offgrid life with a Pecron E2000LFP, cascade battery and solar panels.  While I have read about spaceweather / grid / electronic implications, the bottom line is that I don't even know how much I don't know about the EMP implications of disruption on my farm due to space weather following a sun coronal burp.

Backwoods Solar has this EMP/CME hardening kit
Any Permies with a good understanding of this who can help me to assess how useful this is actually likely to be? How necessary to plan for?
Please share your wisdom for me and all the other well-intentioned-but-mostly-clueless-on-this peeps here on Permies?
Thanks in advance...

A ferrite kit might work but short of lab level testing you would have no assurance it will work properly and if it does not... Well the whole world is toast so what is a warranty worth? There are things you can do. Install a good lightning arrestor on your solar inputs. Make sure your entire system and array are properly grounded so surges have a place to go. you can use surge protectors for point loads which offer some protection. Metal encased wire runs that are grounded. At the size of your system have a backup on hand and rotate them as needed. The hardcore even go so far as to seal sensitive equipment and spares in a faraday cage when not in use. Personally i could cludge together a working system from spares I've accumulated. Everything I've read says any non powered system disconnected from long runs of wire should be safe.  The problem with EMP and solar flares is you cannot study a real world rollout in a lab and that's about all the testing that has been done. I try to be as honest as I can sorry if there is no sure fire answer.
Cheers,  David Baillie

Hey T - thanks for your candor and for providing a frame of reference on this.  (And hoping you are enjoying the bacon from your summer Lefty and Righty pigs these days!)

And thanks David - I appreciate the input!  Can you say more about grounding, specifically how that would be implemented with a plug and play unit like my Pecron with its solar panels?

I suppose that if there were a massive CME event that fried all the electronics, we'd all be in a whole different world, and protecting the Pecron unit here on the farm would be one very tiny piece of a huge puzzle to be solved.

And we would still continue to chop wood and carry water and plant seeds and butcher the culls and pick the fruit and store the harvest just like always... and be glad that we were not in the middle of a big city.

Kara Ann wrote:Hey T - thanks for your candor and for providing a frame of reference on this.  (And hoping you are enjoying the bacon from your summer Lefty and Righty pigs these days!)

And thanks David - I appreciate the input!  Can you say more about grounding, specifically how that would be implemented with a plug and play unit like my Pecron with its solar panels?

I suppose that if there were a massive CME event that fried all the electronics, we'd all be in a whole different world, and protecting the Pecron unit here on the farm would be one very tiny piece of a huge puzzle to be solved.

And we would still continue to chop wood and carry water and plant seeds and butcher the culls and pick the fruit and store the harvest just like always... and be glad that we were not in the middle of a big city.

the portable unit you listed is what they call a floating neutral unit. Unfortunately the ground usually runs to the battery negative then to a chasis ground screw of some sort. Usually you run a wire to a whole house ground. Even then i don't like the idea of the ground running through my battery negative. If you don't have a whole house ground then you would have to completely disconnect the unit from input and output to protect it.  Grounding your array and the solar input on whole home systems is usually done by using either a bare ground that runs in the conduit or better using steel encased wire generally referred to as Teck cable. The casing and the array ground both go to a whole home ground plate or rod. At the size of the system you are describing disconnection is really your best bet. If I was starting from scratch I would install a ground plate and run my grounds to it.
Cheers,  David

Thanks, David - good to know about the disconnect! I appreciate the explanation.