FCC adds foreign-made power inverters to its 'Covered List.' Already-approved models stay on the market.

The Federal Communications Commission on Tuesday added connected power inverters produced in foreign countries to its national security "Covered List" under the Secure Networks Act, the regulatory first step toward blocking new foreign-made inverter models from the U.S. market (FCC Public Notice DA-26-786).

Only new device models are blocked. The Covered List stops future foreign-made inverter designs from receiving FCC equipment authorization, leaving already-authorized, shipped, or specified units for current projects importable, marketable, and installable, per the FCC's robots-and-inverters FAQ.

The U.S. built 50 gigawatts of wind, solar, and battery capacity in 2025, roughly 92% of new generating capacity. Developers plan to interconnect more than 58,000 MW of solar and storage over the next year, and domestic inverter manufacturing supplies only about 7% of the U.S. solar inverter market, leaving the next round of utility-scale projects exposed, according to pv-magazine USA and Canary Media.

The action followed a White House-convened interagency determination that all foreign-produced power inverters pose "unacceptable risks to the national security of the United States" (FCC Covered List). The Department of Energy's January 2026 inspection of 30 Chinese inverters, however, found zero evidence of malicious hardware; the determination focused on firmware-update risk over wireless connectivity rather than physical tampering.

Wood Mackenzie solar analyst Joe Shangraw told pv-magazine USA the rule becomes material over the next year or so. "Eventually, currently approved products will become obsolete," he said.

What is still unclear: whether individual or class exemptions will be granted, and on what timeline.