Have no electronics training but want to repair my panasonic TH42PZ77U plasma TV. the power light blinks 7times, from the message boards, i need to replace the sc board & do firmware update- Is this easy to do for a novice or should i take it to a repair shop?

Lightning-damaged electronics are a gamble to repair. Sometimes the problem is a single component, but more often multiple components are damaged, and even if you get it working, something else may die shortly thereafter. If you are lucky, only one board was damaged. My recommendation, if you have homeowner's or renter's insurance, is to put in a claim for the TV and get it replaced.

Having put forth that caveat, the blinking red LED hints that you may have enough left of the set for it to be repairable, especially given that much of a plasma set is already built to cope with high voltages. Try downloading a service manual and following the troubleshooting procedure. Here's the link (it's a Hungarian site, but there's enough English available to find things):
Service manual eprom result list ElektroTanya Service manuals and repair...

Try this.

Those blinks [flashes] are fault indication (Error Codes). From the number of blinks occur at one time switch ON, you can get an idea about the faulty circuit section inside it. This will make repair easy. These are called blinking codes. Make sure about the exact number of blinking of the standby/power LED, by switching On & OFF the set, for at least two times. Count it carefully. If you wish to get some details, check the site linked here. It has details about blinking codes, and fault locating procedure, to many popular brand TVs and other devices.
http://electro-medical.blogspot.com/
http://homenol.blogspot.com/
http://electronicshelponline.blogspot.com/
If blinks continue without any pause, the main board is faulty.
Search the site by type in the "brand name" to your device, [Exclude the model number] in the "Search box at the top right of the display window of the Homepage" to get gathered related posts...

10 blinks Sub 5v SOS / Main 3v SOS DG Board
DTV 9v SOS / Tuner Power SOS. You must ahve through knowledge in electronics to detect the exact faulty board and to repair this set. If you are not sound enough in electronics, get this set repaired either by the authorised service center for Panasonic, or by any well experienced service technician.
Just try this link, and select the site named Electro-help. All proceedings to repair this fault is explained in detail there.

Hi,

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According to a reliable source, 10 blinks: Sub 5v SOS / Main 3v SOS DG Board DTV 9v SOS / Tuner Power SOS.

Your best bet is to submit the TV to an authorised Panasonic service centre, obtain a quote on likely parts/labour costs involved, along with a second opinion (as to the exact cause of the problems as confirmed), this will then allow you to make a firm decision afterwards on whether to go ahead or not.

The power supply board is dead.Tries the websites like Shopjimmy.com,Ebay.com to buy the refurbish power supply board for the replacement.

Panasonic said "A" board,
A board SOS Detect (Explanation)
10 Blinks SOS: The voltage regulators IC5400 and IC5401 in the A board generate SUB9V and SUB5V. The 9V and 5V from these ICs are monitored by IC1100. Any abnormality on the SUB9V or SUB5V lines, triggers the shutdown circuit and the MPU shuts down the unit. The power LED blinks 10 times.

But need to measure the connection SC2, if it short, it will be the SC board.

The knowledge obtain from: Real case of repair by myself.
Information from Panasonic training manual.

A ten blink is not necessarily a power supply issue. First look at the DG-board. A ten blink shutdown usually indicates this board is failling.

Pin 93 of the MPU IC9003 monitors the status of the SC, SU, SD board. During normal operation, the photo-coupler PC6480 outputs a low to pin 93. If the SC, SU, or SD board becomes defective, a high is provided to pin 93. As a result, the unit shuts down and the power LED blinks 7 times.