US drafting ban on Chinese energy inverters over security concerns

The proposed rules would restrict imports of new foreign inverter models amid concerns that Chinese-made equipment could pose risks to the US power grid

The Trump administration is drafting rules to ban imports of certain foreign energy inverters, which connect solar projects and battery storage systems to the power grid, over concerns that China could use the equipment to disrupt electricity supplies, according to five people familiar with the matter.

 

The proposed rule, being prepared by the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC), would apply to new foreign inverter models and could be published as early as this year, the sources said. They requested anonymity because the matter is not public.

 

According to the sources, the Trump administration revived the effort in part after the European Commission decided in May to ban Chinese-made inverters from publicly funded energy projects.