Likely impact on Vermont solar developers

By Alex Fasulo

Yesterday the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) made a shocking announcement in the world of industrial solar.

They added certain foreign-produced power inverters (Chinese-made) to its Covered List.

The concern is that foreign-made inverters could be used to disrupt the U.S. electric grid if compromised.

Reuters reported last year that kill switches had been found inside of inverters at a solar complex.

Currently installed complexes are allowed to continue operating. The FCC’s action is aimed at new equipment authorizations and future imports for solar complexes that have yet-to-be-built.

With 93% of inverters being manufactured outside of the U.S., solar developers in Vermont and New York are going to have a hard time working around buying inverters from China.

As PV Magazine reported yesterday, “The hardware blockade hits right as developers plan to connect more than 58,000 MW of new solar and storage over the next year. Without certified inverters, fully built solar farms will sit dark and unable to feed electricity to the grid.”

PV Magazine concludes by saying, “The only way for a foreign-produced inverter to bypass this block is through an emergency Conditional Approval process managed by the Department of Defense or the Department of Homeland Security.”

Republished with edits from the author’s Facebook page.