….
Soon we may have hackable transmitters and receivers on every roof…
When storms hit Adelaide last November the first thing the AEMO did was ask people to switch off their own solar panels so they didn’t swamp and crash the fragile wounded grid. Some 400MW of rooftop PV was also remotely shut down through the combination of smart inverters and voltage controls. Imagine if a foreign power could launch a cyber attack — one that switched a large energy source on or off at the wrong moment?
Last year “a hacker gained access to PV systems in the Netherlands that were operated via a monitoring tool from China’s Solarman“. That meant a Dutch government agency was suddenly called on to investigate and report on the risks. According to PV magazine:
“The hacker was able to view the personal data of Dutch customers, create new customers and delete existing users,” reported Tweakers. “He was also able to find out how much electricity customers’ solar panels generate via GPS coordinates, and download, adjust and upload inverter firmware.”
In May this year a report by the Dutch National Digital Infrastructure Inspectorate (RDI) found that many inverters didn’t comply with requirements and could cause interference with other electrical equipment — indeed five of the nine inverters they tested may cause interference, and nine out of nine were judged to be “noncompliant”. InnovationsOrigins.com reports that “radio or wireless tags to open doors, could be affected and possibly function less well or not at all. Even aviation and shipping may be affected.” Really?
Really serious’ problems cybersecurity breaches pose in Australia’s DER near future
Bella Peacock, PV Magazine, June 27th
“In about two to three years I think there will be a critical mass [of controllable systems].” If Australia roughly installs around 350,000 rooftop solar systems per year, depending on how many states introduce control mandates, this could see Australia have anywhere from 750,000 to over a million controllable systems installed within three years. “So we are talking about a massive increase in controlled devices just looking purely at solar,” [Wattwatcher’s Chief Innovation Officer, Grace Young,] said.
…
Cyber attacks could even go unnoticed
The Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) has pointed out that cyberattacks in the DER space could easily go unnoticed (See the ProjectEdge Report on cyber security.) Malicious interests could also gain access to market information that they could profit from. And as it happens, two of Australia’s major energy Gentailers are owned by Chinese firms — Alinta Energy (Chow Tai Fook Enterprises) and Energy Australia (China Light and Power Company).
Image by Chris Feser
We banned the phones but will allow the transmitters on millions of homes…
China’s spy threat to our solar energy grid
Cameron Stewart, The Australian
“If companies like Huawei are not safe to be the backbone of our telecommunications network then they can hardly be safe as the backbone of our new electricity grid,” Senator Paterson told The Australian. “Yet that’s exactly what’s happening under the Albanese government’s rush to renewables with no cyber security mitigations.”
“We cannot afford for our electricity grid to be riddled with exploitable cyber security vulnerabilities in the most dangerous strategic environment since World War II. We know that critical infrastructure networks like power are of great interest to signals intelligence agencies in foreign authoritarian states, including China.”
It has been done before…
Energy systems, and especially electricity grids, have increasingly been a target in global conflicts, with Russian-affiliated groups launching cyber attacks on energy utilities in Ukraine and in other NATO countries since Russia‘s invasion of Ukraine.
Imagine the power to randomly annoy people with intermittent, hard to detect problems, that drain productivity, or profits, or freeze our smelter pot lines, or increase profits of some companies while making others less competitive. It may not look like an act of war, but in a death by a thousands cuts, it might send companies and events looking for better, more reliable energy in a foreign land, or increase bankruptcies. It might hamper national productivity or come at the worst possible moment.
This is a very serious and obvious risk, so we must assume that government has been advised by security agencies on this matter for a long time. Yet here we are with a solar grid built with a CCP kill switch, just waiting to be turned off at midday to create a national system black. As usual, no heads will roll and nothing will be done.
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When a battery is cheap enough very large numbers of Australian households will go off-grid. The grid load which at that time will be negative during daylight, will go positive….
China is not the problem. We are destroying the grid.
140
Good comment. We are replacing a robust system with tissue paper technology (wind and solar) that will fail and will have incurred billions in pointless investments.
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G’day Geoff,
Shouldn’t your first word be “If”?
The availability of the raw materials sounds like it will become an increasing problem which will surely cause an increase in price, particularly as the components aren’t recyclable.
Cheers
Dave B
80
“When a battery is cheap enough…”
50 years?
50
I want a battery to see me through regular 4 hr power outages which are an inevitability in NSW. I’m a fair way from town and live with much refrigerated food for my wife’s catering work. It’s inconvenient connecting a generator to the metre board as I’m often away at work and we see many outages as a norm due to the number of trees around here.
Currently, Nickle/iron (Edison type) batteries are cheap in that they will last 30 years with 7 yearly maintenance. I’m designing a micro-grid to run only refrigeration and LED lights. It will cost a lot of money but would provide certainty and a marginally reduced mains power bill.
21
When are they going to install a 24/7 sentry on every other high voltage line transmission tower?
90
Re that “every other tower”
Years ago I was told that you only needed to knock out 5 pylons to cripple South Australia’s power supply. I wasn’t told which ones. And maybe changed since.
120
If I was a saboteur the transmission lines are the easiest to get to and the simplest to destroy. Imagine those kilometres running through forests waiting to be cut down with a small amount of C4 or some other concoction. At least with the coal supplied lines there are much fewer and thus more easily defended. Oh what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive like those crooked climate scientists and ignorant buffoons like Bowen.
150
Actually its not that easy to blow up pylons. You need specialized ‘shaped’ explosives to cut the metal. The most vulnerable stuff are the micro control systems.
40
As in 2016?
50
Actually its the main transformer stations that get bombed (see Iraq, ukraine). These are usually nodes and junction points so many lines can be taken down with one hit. Also the fried transformers can be difficult to source, build and replace.
Pylons are easy to build and materials are everywhere, they can be rebuilt quickly.
10
mmm there is a lot of remote management already on the grid
40
The bottom line is that you shouldnt have anything on WIFI. Least of all your home security system. Or your phone:
https://www.benzinga.com/fintech/17/03/9141000/the-cia-didnt-tell-google-and-apple-about-backdoor-hacks-into-their-products
Internet of things is not for me.
170
And there was the TV hack, where the TV’s microphone could be turned on remotely, without any indication that it was on. When the TV manufacturer found out about this, they immediately sent out a software upgrade.
90
More interesting was a business that was hacked via their fishtank and the temp sensor in the tank.
60
Wifi is only one of the ways in. They dont use wifi to talk with a smart meter for example.
50
Most solar inverters don’t just cause interference with other electrical equipment, the dirty electricity has health effects as well.
https://www.eiwellspring.org/emc/SolarEMFHazard.htm
80
It says:
Sounds like there must be an SI unit for that sensitivity.
110
It is said that many odd things have a probability of near Zero, but are never exactly Zero. One such being attacked by a cat with a tank:
https://starecat.com/content/wp-content/uploads/cat-wearing-helmet-sitting-on-a-tanks-barrel.jpg
Likewise, it is near Zero probability that I will have solar panels on the roof of my home.
180
Not solar panels, but ‘smart’ metering of city power! Some years ago, in Randburg, South Africa, the local authority forced the installation of ‘smart metering’, that could be read remotely. Some months after the universal change-over, all the BlueTooth remote controllers in the suburb failed to work! Garage doors, car locking, burglar alarms – even my remote weather station – all stopped responding. It turned out that these ‘smart’ meters were communicating on BlueTooth public frequencies, and ALL of them began transmitting at once, jamming the whole frequency band. Every single meter in the suburb had to be re-programmed!
250
The biggest threat to solar panels over here in the UK are clouds, long winter nights, short dull winter days. If anyone managed to turn them off during those periods I am, not sure anyone would notice. I don’t know if there is any similar possible interference with wind turbines?
having said that, if I were a hostile foreign hacker I would close down mobile phones first and everyone under 35 would be left helpless, then target the power infrastructure-the national grid, banks, water and food supply lines.
190
If anyone is hacked this way the television would know all about it.
“The company is warning people as part of its privacy policy that anything they say around their new television will be “among the data captured and transmitted to a third party” because of a voice recognition feature.”
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-02-10/samsung-warns-customers-new-smart-tvs-listen-in-on-users/6082144
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A very good reason not to buy one.
90
The latest conspiracy theory is that China is slowly insinuating itself into western nations’ infrastructure so that, should a shooting war occur – or China decide it’s time for a takeover – they can more or less immobilise whole nations and thus render them powerless.
And we all know how those ‘wacky’ conspiracy theories tend to evolve over time …
270
Why would they bother with a messy ‘shooting’ war?
(That market is elsewhere.)
The leadership buy out and cultural and political absorption campaign is going perfectly well.
The English speaking Red Guard youth generation of university graduates are fully trained and poised to assume leadership.
Sun Tzu probably said, “why send your army, when you can teach your enemy’s children to do the dirty work for you?”
They are only temporarily distracted by blocking traffic, gluing themselves to stuff, and deciding on a gender.
Success comes to those that plan ahead.
260
My energy supplier is named “Energy Australia” but is really “The China Light & Power Co”. China owns some of our coal terminals and we sell them over $200 million of coal each day and at cheap rate. They build a new power station every month while we mince and wring our hands over our minuscule and irrelevant carbon dioxide output.
Only a bunch of dim-wits would sell their soul to foreign interests?
40
Condensed wisdom.
10
I read this sentence and a thought came to me.
“It may not look like an act of war, but in a death by a thousands cuts, it might send companies and events looking for better, more reliable energy in a foreign land, or increase bankruptcies.”
How would we tell if this was a foreign company doing this or our government (US in my case) doing this in the name of overreaching regulatory oversight?
240
I understand grid stability is primary importance. However, I wonder the impact on ROI the individual homeowners will experience. With their panels being “managed” i.e., disconnected, that will be a rude financial wake-up to those feeling they’re helping the state.
100
CBDC + Smart Technology + digital IDs = total state control.
140
Call me cynical, but I fully expect to see “hackers” used as a scapegoat whenever part of the grid falls over. Much better than having to admit failures as a result of gross mismanagement.
Then of course is the real possibility of hackers…
310
That is an interesting concept and one I could see Chris Bowen employing to cover his ineptitude. The ABC and Nine would readily support such an excuse.
150
It would need to be big as his ineptitude is enormous.
90
Yep
– unreliable coal
– hackers
– a “perfect storm” of issues
– climate change
– it’s a sacrifice for the planet
– but we must or “we will fall behind”
never ever, we had no clue and focused on all the wrong things
100
On the subject of hackable energy infrastructure, President Trump banned Chinese power transformers on the US grid.
Not surprisingly, the Chicomm Agent, the White House Resident reversed the ban.
160
Would solar panels have worked during the Carrington Event?
Humm, for that matter, would anything with an IC type chip in it have worked after such an event?
Would the IOT get a TKO?
110
My guess is that the panels would work fine but the inverters would be toast.
90
My inverters are inside a corrugated iron shed.
My question would be – is that enough of a Faraday cage?
Over and above can I get them to work in an islanding mode.
40
Might not matter as so many other things could be ‘down’. Better off with a generator.
80
An effective Faraday Cage implies that all the shielding elements are bonded together. That said, Earthing/Grounding isn’t really relevant to EMP. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dC2BRC9FDDA
grounding/earthing is, however, very important as regards lightning strikes and such. Roof and walls must be bonded together and then bonded to a ground rod of 2 m + in length, single point grounding/earthing. every connection to the electrical system must be bonded to a single point. Otherwise you get circulating currents and voltage gradients and those become the actual problem.
https://electrical-engineering-portal.com/ground-potential-rise-in-your-home
90
How much ‘smart’ technology does the average person have in their home ?
Smart metering, smart fridges, smart lighting, smart TVs, smart voice activated systems, smart phones, smart cars, smart CCTV, etc.
Face it, even if you only have one smart device you’re at risk from big brother, who may or may not be Chinese, or may be just a bored 16 year old. The enemy within is the biggest risk. State actors know that cyber attacks are defined as an act of war by many.
160
That’s why I refuse to use Siri, Alexa, Watson, Bixby etc. or any other digital assistant.
180
May I add one more to your list – the innocuous baby monitor. Clearly it is a big market given one Chinese marketing site lists a total of 1,146 baby monitor factories and companies offering 3,438 products.
Toward the bottom of their baby monitoring landing page they list a multi function surveillance optical laser thermal imaging camera with a purported range of 1-16km. We all know how loud American tourists are…. guess they must be born that way.
80
WE have gone out of our way not to install a smart anything. I have no need to turn on my heating whilst I am abroad, or need my toaster to communicate with my fridge. These devices tend to be too clever for their own good and their complexity will cause problems
30
“Smart” electricity meters can be hacked.
https://youtu.be/lwR02fkLfhU
90
They give off radiation and have been known to burn
40
Most air conditioners sold in Australia are equipped with DRED (Demand Response Enable Device).
This enables the electricity company or Big Brother to either control your temperature or turn off the unit, to save the planet of course….
I wrote an article about it.
https://www.siliconchip.com.au/Issue/2017/April/DRED%3A+they+can+turn+your+aircon+off%21
100
I read that a foil cover over the ac unit stops any monkey business.
30
Many of these solar system vulnerabilities are avoidable by not keeping the default password on your Bluetoothed controllers and inverters. (Or, obviously, stick to hardwire.)
Walk around most any busy RV site with your phone on and the Victron controller app running, and you could shut down 90% of the solar-powered rigs.
Home systems are much the same.
80
…with your phone on.
I sometimes made my tedious bus ride home a bit more enjoyable by starting the pair option on my mobile. The names that some people gave their phones was quite interesting. It was even possible to zero in on which phone belonged to which person by pairing and re-pairing before and after a bus stop. All for entertainment with no nefarious intent
80
The trouble with built in vulnerabilities is that anyone can use them . I would suspect that most chinese facilities have electronics with back doors . It was well known about microsoft products having them . Being able to go “stand alone” may the only defence .
90
It is so much easier to go with the provided install options and I suppose that is how most back doors are added. I am aware that some truck manufacturers have software on their vehicles that allow for instant diagnoses of mechanical failures by technicians in far away places. What if a bridge or tunnel could be blocked by some poor sod going about his daily work and having his engine stall at a critical time.
70
The entire western world is in upside down insanity mode. China must think they are winning Powerball every 30 seconds. Why are are we kowtowing? Sure there a small number of global political families and a small number of billionaires making a dollar from the kowtowing, but it really is “small beer” in the global scheme of things. Albanese and Bowen for example are not making dollars from wrecking our economy and destroying our national security because they have not got 1% of the brain power required to work such a scheme. Why is this happening?
100
A combination of ignorance and delusion of greatness.
100
plus virtue signaling , plus wanting so badly to be in the UN/WEF club post politics
90
This link refers to the dangers of Chinese-made inverters to the US grid but it’s a duplication of the thoughts raised for Australia.
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/experts-warn-renewable-energy-creates-new-opportunities-chinese-grid-attacks
The “Solar Panels With Parts From China” paragraph cites the fact that Biden vetoed a Bill that would have provided protection
70
Where will the Chinese get the lithium to make the batteries for grid backup and cars that the “leaders” of the West demand for our own self-destruction?
Why, the Taliban, of course! What could possibly go wrong with making some of the world’s worst terrorists some of the richest people on earth?
https://www.frontpagemag.com/green-energy-will-be-powered-by-taliban-lithium/
110
There is a risk that China will grow old before becoming wealthy in contrast to the Taiwanese and Japanese who got in early on global manufacturing and are now seriously wealthy nations. However the UN promoted NetZero craze is doing good things for China. Chinese interests are buying up Australian production across all manner of industries. Electrical industry just keeps giving. China supplies the hardware needed for subsidy farming and then gladly accept the enduring profits produced by robbing Australia’s disadvantaged who do not have the capital to join the Ponzi. Basically Australia’s disadvantaged people are supporting Chinese retirees.
110
I remember when solar was regarded as being the answer to foreign attack – the widespread source couldn’t be taken out by a missile, like a power station can be.
Yet another poorly thought out Green idea.
90
I have full confidence that our government will undoubtedly be up to speed on any likely problems associated with cyber hacking of our energy systems. Just like they had control of the costing of the Commonwealth Games. In other news, this morning I observed a flying pig.
120
The U.S. electric grid faces significant cybersecurity risks from a variety of actors, including criminals, terrorists, “hacktivists,” and foreign governments. The grid is vulnerable to cyberattacks that could cause catastrophic, widespread, and lengthy blackouts. The effect on hospitals, police departments, banks, gas stations, military bases, and families across America could be disastrous.
In 2015, the insurance underwriter Lloyd’s developed a scenario for an attack on part of the Eastern Interconnection, which provides power to around half of the U.S. Under the scenario, an attack targeting power generators would cause a blackout in 15 states and the District of Columbia, leaving 93 million people without power. Only 10% of the generators targeted in this attack would need to be taken offline in order for it to succeed.
A 2020 assessment by the Department of Homeland Security warned “we remain concerned about China’s intent to compromise U.S. critical infrastructure in order to cause disruption or destruction.” Last month, Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm confirmed that America’s adversaries are capable of shutting down the grid.
https://www.rpc.senate.gov/policy-papers/infrastructure-cybersecurity-the-us-electric-grid
What the public knows and sees is just the tip of the iceberg, and like an iceberg the bulk remains hidden from sight, until that fateful day.
60
It’s ironic that the Internet which was developed to provide a means of reliable communication during a nuclear attack has now become the vehicle that will guarantee destruction of life as we know it if WW3 were to happen. The old saying of: “don’t put all your eggs in one basket” has been ignored/forgotten, and here we are with no societal fallbacks or contingencies if the internet was taken out.
40
Smart phone technology, smart electricity meters, smart solar panel inverters, smart monitoring of water meters and smart cameras all approved by not so smart politicians.
80
Rooftop solar is heading for disaster . .
50
Disasters of several kinds;
“Very recently we had a hail storm in NovoCastria which was a “big one”.
One of our neighbours has a solar installation that appeared to have survived but was eventually replaced.
The supporting old tile roof was replaced with brand new corrugated iron.
A very expensive roof repair.”
80
Reds are no longer under beds,
Reds are on rooftops !
20
If they can turn off our air conditioning during a heatwave (as they have done, it’s on a separate fuse) a hacker can do just about anything.
20