It started like any routine inspection. A group of engineers in the U.S. opened up a solar inverter and inspected it. Everything looked fine at first, but buried deep inside, they found something that wasn’t listed in the manuals: A small communication module capable of sending and receiving signals. The presence of this hidden Chinese device wasn’t documented. Its purpose was unclear. But the implications were massive.
This was just one of several similar discoveries over the past year. According to reports from sources close to ongoing investigations, experts examining imported solar inverters and battery systems from Chinese manufacturers have quietly found more of these hidden Chinese devices embedded inside.
These components are often capable of remote communication and pose a serious concern for the security of power grids in the U.S. and beyond.
Inverters are the backbone of modern solar power systems. They convert electricity from solar panels into a form usable by the grid. However, because they are often connected to the internet for updates and maintenance, they present a cybersecurity risk, especially if their internal hardware includes undocumented parts.
That’s exactly the kind of threat investigators now believe these hidden Chinese devices represent. Though the Department of Energy hasn’t made any public statements tying these components to a coordinated threat, it has acknowledged ongoing risk assessments.
And behind the scenes, there is growing unease. As one expert told Reuters, the devices could potentially be used to “physically destroy the grid.” Evidence of just how real this risk might be surfaced in late 2024, when a number of inverters across multiple countries were reportedly disabled remotely from China.
The disruption, though limited, showed how easily the energy flow to homes and businesses could be manipulated with the right access. This discovery comes at a time of heightened geopolitical tension, with governments in Europe and the U.S. pushing to cut dependence on Chinese-made components in critical infrastructure and other technologies, especially now that they’ve discovered hidden Chinese devices in important equipment.
NATO has urged member countries to review and reduce strategic dependencies. Some utilities in the U.S. have already begun phasing out inverters from Chinese suppliers.
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