The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has made two updates on its foreign inverter ban, including a revision of the definition of a power inverter.
These updates come after receiving inputs from the US Department of War (DoW) – previously referred to as the Department of Defense – which determined that certain foreign-produced power inverters that are eligible for Section 45X tax credits “do not pose unacceptable risks to the national security of the United States or to the safety and security of US persons”.
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Previously, the FCC had determined that inverters qualified as a “domestic end product” if they met the 65% content threshold under the Buy America Act (subscription required) to avoid being considered foreign-made. Now, power inverters that comply with Section 45X, and are eligible for the tax credits for domestic production, will also be considered domestically produced.
The second change from the DoW is regarding the definition of a power inverter and clarifies that any power inverters that “contain, or are designed, equipped, or configured to accept, a component that enables remote communication, control, sensing, data-collection, or monitoring through Ethernet or other similar connections” pose the same risk as power inverters with wireless connectivity, which were originally covered in the foreign-produced inverter ban announced in July 2026.
The inclusion of wired components “would now exclude a larger portion of the utility-scale market as they primarily use wired communications for PV inverters”, explained Mollie McCorkindale, senior analyst at PV Tech Research, to PV Tech.
According to the DoW, these devices pose two risks: facilitating a supply chain vulnerability that could disrupt the US economic security and create a cybersecurity risk that threatens the security of critical infrastructure.
The decision does not apply to inverters that have already been acquired or installed, nor does it prevent “retailers from continuing to sell, import, or market relevant models approved previously” through the FCC, but to new devices that have not yet been certified by the FCC.
The new FCC modifications can be accessed here.
Following the announcement in late July, PV Tech spoke with several analysts about the impacts of the foreign-made inverter ban (subscription required) and how, in the short term, the impact might be limited as the ban affects new models.
In terms of manufacturing, the US has been experiencing a ramp-up in PV inverter and power conversion systems (PCS) with some European manufacturing in the process to increase its US inverter manufacturing footprint. Data from PV Tech Research show that European-based companies are forecast to drive the US’ annual nameplate inverter production capacity increase in 2026 and 2027, as highlighted in last week’s PV Chart of the Week.
