Warning: US Adds Overseas Inverters to Controlled Equipment List
Recently, the Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau of the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) officially updated its Controlled Equipment List, explicitly including foreign-manufactured power supplies, Photovoltaic Inverters and other equipment under regulatory control.
The U.S. side claimed the move was driven by national security concerns, supply chain vulnerabilities and the need to guard against cyberattacks. Effective immediately, equipment authorization will be denied to unapproved foreign inverter models. Since equipment authorization is a mandatory prerequisite for inverters to connect to the U.S. power grid and be sold legally, this marks a sweeping tightening of market access for unlicensed overseas inverters in the United States.
As a major global photovoltaic market, the U.S. maintains strong demand for inverters. Utility-scale ground-mounted power stations and commercial & industrial projects in particular impose stringent requirements on cost performance, mass delivery capacity and high power density of inverters. The U.S. has long relied heavily on overseas manufacturing for such equipment supply. In the residential PV segment, while the market is dominated by a small number of leading brands, end-user demand for smart solutions and integrated residential energy storage systems keeps rising steadily.
In terms of technological development, grid-tied inverters remain the backbone of the U.S. market, accounting for nearly 80% of total market share. Meanwhile, driven by nationwide distributed energy policies and grid stability requirements, the market penetration of energy storage inverters is surging rapidly. In regions with high renewable energy adoption rates, more than half of newly built residential PV systems are paired with energy storage units.
Addressing the new FCC restrictions at a regular press conference, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Mao Ning stated that China firmly opposes the U.S.'s overstretched interpretation of national security and suppression of Chinese enterprises. “Protectionism cannot boost U.S. competitiveness; it will only harm the interests of American businesses and consumers. China will continue to take necessary measures to resolutely safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese enterprises.”