US officials are reportedly investigating security threats posed by Chinese-made solar inverters and batteries after the discovery of undocumented communication devices hidden inside a renewable energy infrastructure, two sources familiar with the matter said.
According to a Wednesday Reuters exclusive, the devices in question are power inverters used to convert electricity from solar panels and wind turbines into usable power for the grid. They are also present in batteries, electric vehicle chargers, and heat pumps.
Experts say the systems are remotely accessible for utility companies to launch updates, maintenance, and deploy firewalls to block unauthorized access from foreign servers. Yet, after finding rogue components in the inverters, authorities now believe these protections could be circumvented.
Hidden radios, undocumented access
According to two individuals familiar with the matter, technicians who routinely dismantle grid-connected hardware for inspection have uncovered rogue communication tools, including cellular radios, in several Chinese-manufactured solar inverters and batteries.
Officials claim the devices were not disclosed in product documentation and may allow covert channels for remote communication that bypass security systems.
Over the past nine months, these hidden radios were also found in batteries from multiple Chinese suppliers, the sources said.
“That effectively means there is a built-in way to physically destroy the grid,” one of the sources propounded, adding that it would be “catastrophic” if they were manipulated en masse.
A spokesperson for the Department of Energy (DOE) confirmed the agency is aware of documentation gaps and asked companies to understand a product’s full capabilities before making any installments, even if not maliciously intended.
The DOE said it is creating a software component inventory to address disclosure gaps.
Huawei exited the US inverter market in 2019, the same year Washington banned its 5G telecom gear over national security concerns.
“China’s dominance is becoming a bigger issue because of the growing renewables capacity on Western grids and the increased likelihood of a prolonged and serious confrontation between China and the West,” said Philipp Schroeder, CEO of German solar firm 1Komma5, which avoids Huawei inverters for this reason.
Uri Sadot, cyber director at Israeli solar manufacturer SolarEdge, warned that remote control over several residential solar inverters could paralyze the grid.
“If you remotely control a large enough number of home solar inverters, and do something nefarious at once, that could have catastrophic implications to the grid for a prolonged period of time,” he contended.
Legislative pushback on Chinese tech
Earlier this year, US Senators proposed the Decoupling from Foreign Adversarial Battery Dependence Act, which could ban the Department of Homeland Security from purchasing batteries from six specific Chinese companies starting in October 2027.
The companies targeted include CATL, BYD, Envision Energy, EVE Energy, Hithium Energy Storage, and Gotion High-tech. All have been identified by Washington as close affiliates of the Chinese Communist Party.
The bill, introduced in February and referred to the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs in March, has yet to be enacted.
Separately, utilities are beginning to source inverters from non-Chinese suppliers preemptively. According to several sources, Florida Power & Light Company, the largest utility in the state, is among those planning to reduce their dependence on Chinese technology.
At the start of 2025, Britain launched a government review of Chinese technology in its energy systems, including inverters. That review is expected to conclude in the coming months.
“Ten years ago, if you switched off the Chinese inverters, it would not have caused an unimaginable thing to happen to European grids, but now the critical mass is much larger,” said Schroeder.
The European Solar Manufacturing Council estimates that over 200 gigawatts of solar power capacity across Europe rely on Chinese inverters, comparable to more than 200 nuclear reactors.
The Chinese government has denied the allegations, calling them a distortion of China’s contributions to global infrastructure.
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