A recent article in the New York Times discusses the impact of Solar Flares. From this article:
Occasionally, a large solar storm can rain energy down on the earth, overpowering electrical grids. About once a century, a giant pulse can knock out worldwide power systems for months or even years. It's been 90 years since the last super storm, but scientists say we are on the verge of another period of high solar activity.
This isn't science fiction. Though less frequent than large hurricanes, significant storms have hit earth several times over the last 150 years, most notably in 1859 and 1921. Those occurred before the development of the modern power grid; recovering from a storm that size today would cost up to $2 trillion a year for several years.
So why should this impact a decision to get a rainwater system instead of getting a PV system. Simple - we can live without electricity, but not water.
Moving, processing and treating water is usually the largest expense for a water utility company. A power outage of any substantial duration will effect the delivery of water. Almost all water utilities do have power backup systems, but they are intended for short duration events, not days or weeks.
Having your own water storage onsite is critical to weather these coming storms.
Read the entire NY Times article
Occasionally, a large solar storm can rain energy down on the earth, overpowering electrical grids. About once a century, a giant pulse can knock out worldwide power systems for months or even years. It's been 90 years since the last super storm, but scientists say we are on the verge of another period of high solar activity.
This isn't science fiction. Though less frequent than large hurricanes, significant storms have hit earth several times over the last 150 years, most notably in 1859 and 1921. Those occurred before the development of the modern power grid; recovering from a storm that size today would cost up to $2 trillion a year for several years.
So why should this impact a decision to get a rainwater system instead of getting a PV system. Simple - we can live without electricity, but not water.
Moving, processing and treating water is usually the largest expense for a water utility company. A power outage of any substantial duration will effect the delivery of water. Almost all water utilities do have power backup systems, but they are intended for short duration events, not days or weeks.
Having your own water storage onsite is critical to weather these coming storms.
Read the entire NY Times article
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