Support CleanTechnica's work througha Substack subscription,on Patreon, oron Stripe. Help us produce all of thehigh-quality, original content we publish week after weekdespite the challenges of content-scraping AI, antisocial media, inflation, and other hurdles.Last week, the FCC added foreign-produced inverters to its “Covered List.” Effective immediately, new inverter models cannot be imported. This applies “regardless of the nationality of origin” to all foreign countries. Even those countries that are considered allies. So, a new inverter by German company SMA cannot be imported into the US.
New inverters are claimed to “pose unacceptable risks to the national security of the United States or the safety and security of United States persons.” Of note, this does not apply to previously approved models. It does not shut down inverters currently in operation. Most people are unlikely to notice an immediate difference. Without exposure to what is new, many may not realize what they are missing. However, it does potentially block many of the developments that I saw at Intersolar Europe. It does block progress.
That progress is important. Increasingly, we do not need dumb inverters. While there is some potential for new imported inverters to get a waiver, regulations essentially lobotomize them. And staying stupid becomes expensive.
The grid does not need additional power to always be fed into it. In many cases, excess rooftop solar power is fed into the grid during periods of overcapacity and leads to curtailment elsewhere. Without intelligence and connectivity, the utility cannot keep close track of the electricity being produced and consumed. It will keep base load generation running to provide stability. In other words, without connectivity, visibility and control, US utilities will keep natural gas generators running to provide stable electricity and will effectively curtail the excess power from distributed solar elsewhere in the system.
Connectivity found in new inverters is essential to fully utilizing distributed solar generation. It is essential to effective implementation of battery storage, charging with excess solar and then providing power when needed. It also enables V2G systems to help balance the grid. Blocking the most advanced, connected inverters undermines solar generation and increases fossil fuel consumption. And it increases energy prices due to wasted electricity.
New inverters also use more advanced systems, including SiC solid-state electronics. That significantly increases efficiency. It also reduces the amount of copper needed, potentially reducing costs while also reducing resource concerns. And it makes the inverter lighter, easing installation. The US does not have the technology or supply chain to reach global levels of efficiency on its own. That increases energy losses and increases energy costs. Blocking competition also means higher prices. Companies will not need to compete and can charge more for increasingly outdated technology. It also blocks us from global economies of scale and innovations that are engineering the cost out of inverters. The increased cost of a critical component then has an add-on effect throughout the rest of the system. That increases the cost of solar systems, which already far more expensive in the US due to protectionism on solar panels. The combination increases the cost of solar electricity and ultimately the cost of all electricity.
Even a slight increase in the cost of electricity increases costs throughout the economy. Every product and activity that uses electricity becomes a little more expensive. Those costs are then passed on to customers, who then need to earn more and increase prices to cover their needs, which increases the prices charged for the products and services they provide to other customers…
And every little increase in the cost of electricity reduces the economic argument for electrification. Even if electrification is still more cost effective, the difference is reduced and the argument to make the investment is weakened. Especially as other costs increase and strain budgets. That leaves people and companies paying more for longer periods of time, which are often passed on to customers. On its own, it might not seem like much, but it is one of the factors that add up to the affordability challenges many people are feeling in the United States.
In the end, limited competition is also a security concern. Having only a handful of systems that do not reflect the most advanced systems available globally is a vulnerability. Even if they are contained within our borders. If an artificially limited number of companies are disrupted by a natural disaster or economic downturn, the sector becomes vulnerable. Multiple sources can provide resilience. In addition, only having a handful of systems available means that only a handful of systems would need to be hacked to potentially shut down the power grid.
To be clear, this is not making you safer. Increasing energy costs does not create net jobs. It does not make things more affordable. Holding back progress does not make things better.
What it does accomplish is helping to perpetuate fossil fuel consumption. Blocking smart inverters makes our grid dumb. It weakens the argument for renewable energy. It helps ensure that the increasing energy demand for AI data centers gets built out with fossil fuel plants. Notice how we are not sanctioning the fossil fuels that provide most US electricity. We are also not blocking the machinery used to extract and burn fossil fuels.
Blocking progress on inverters will make a handful of people deeply embedded in the status quo more money. For everyone else, it will cost you.
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