How do solar wind affect electrical circuits? ?

Question

tks for answer SVAL so that means only EM waves affect conductors and that those effects on electrical components in the ISS are not due to protons, electron and small atoms?

Answer 1

Particles from solar winds cause electrical charges to build up in metals and considering how much metal there is in an electrical circuit, you know what happens!

Answer 2

The quiescent solar wind has a negligible effect on electronic circuits in most spaceworthy enclosures.  Other solar activity such as coronal mass ejections can have a very pronounced effect if sufficient shielding is not provided.  However, the most adverse effect on most such spacecraft is upon their solar arrays.  High-flux, high-energy particle events reduce the service life of photovoltaic solar cells.

Answer 3

The solar winds are basically a large amount of plasma, or ionized gas, filled with highly-energized protons and electrons. They can be pretty fast at times; a solar event in 2005 launched protons at Earth so energetic that they got here in only about 23 minutes, meaning they were going at roughly one third the speed of light. Most of these, however, take about 24 to 48 hours to reach us. When they reach the Earth they disturb its magnetosphere, causing it to warp and deform. If you've take a Physics class then you know that moving magnetic fields produce electrical current. Even in electronic equipment that isn't plugged in, a strong enough magnetic field will induce a current. Geomagnetic storms are strong enough to disrupt satellites and overload power lines and electronics on Earth through this mechanism. They also cause the Aurora Borealis by exciting various elements in Earth's upper atmosphere.

EDIT: True, only EM radiation effects electronic equipment. But the protons and electrons from solar winds are moving charged particles, meaning they produce a magnetic field as well. So they can also effect equipment on the ISS. Atoms, on the other hand, have nothing to do with this unless they are ionized, because that means they would have a charge and, therefore, a magnetic field.

As for wavelength, the shorter the wavelength the more energy there is. Assuming more energy means a stronger magnetic field then, therefore, there will be more electronic disruption.

Lastly, I do not believe this has anything to do with the Photoelectric Effect.