OK, here is an off the wall topic:
Would the EMP effects from a high attitude nuclear detonation adversely affect PV's?
The question came up recently within a group at the local restaurant breakfast counter as they talked about terrorist attacks on our country....
Being that they are actually semiconductor devices, I suspect they may be vulnerable, however, on the other hand. they have a larger physical area than discret transistors or intergrated circuits (chips), and most likely bettter grounding.
Would that help or hurt the chances of damage? Does anyone have an informed theory on this?

see my updated reply at http://www.wind-sun.com/ForumVB/showthread.php?t=371
(updated link 7/2007)

Bones said it best " He's dead Jim"

Solar panels, along with almost all semiconductor devices, would not survive the EMP from a nuclear detonation. To shield against EMP requires not only total conductive shielding, a Faraday cage, but also magnetic shielding, using mu-metal (very, very expensive), or hundreds of feet of earth. A wind turbine or hydro generator would survive, if it contained no semiconductors.

any wind or hydro generators that use permanent magnets definitely will not survive and other metals such as the iron used in field poles could become polarized or even atomicly damaged depending upon the blast strength.

If you are close enough to the blast to destroy permanent magnets, then you have little chance to have survived it. At this level mechanical bearings are subject to pitting and welding, most transformers will have been shorted, and even many vacuum tubes will have arced and have been destroyed. Has there been a study of the EMP effects on metal tooth fillings?

Distance, strength, and the altitude of the blast are what is critical to what would or would not survive. Most semiconductors will not survive even at relatively large distances due to their inherent junction reverse voltage limits (around 5V maximum for many devices, most range 3V to 20V). This voltage need only be exceeded to permanently damage the device, even if just for a nanosecond, which why static discharge, ESD, is a major problem for semiconductors.