Cybersecurity Policy Report, Power Inverters Eligible for Clean-Energy Tax Credits Removed From FCC’s Covered List, (Aug 20, 2026)

By Lynn Stanton

The Department of Defense has determined that foreign-produced power inverters that are eligible for certain clean-energy tax credits “do not pose the unacceptable security risks identified in the First Power Inverter National Security Determination and should be removed from the FCC’s Covered List as not ‘foreign-produced,’” the FCC’s Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau said in a public notice released today in WC docket 18-89, ET docket 21-232, and EA docket 21-233.

Specifically, power inverters eligible for the advanced manufacturing tax credit under provisions of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act as codified by 26 U.S.C. §45X have been removed from the “covered list” of equipment and services deemed to present an unacceptable national security risk to national security.

The FCC had added foreign-produced connected power inverters to the covered list last month in response to the earlier national security determination (CPR, July 29).

The public notice also reported that the Department of Defense “has determined that the definition of ‘power inverters’ should be revised to accurately reflect the specific power inverters” that were determined in the previous national security determination “to pose unacceptable risks to the national security of the United States or to the security and safety of U.S. persons.”

In an appendix to the public notice, an annex to a Department of Defense memo says that a power inverter “[c]hanges dc power to ac power, to include bidirectional devices, that is intended to use in parallel with an electric utility to supply common loads and sometimes deliver power to the utility, i.e., a utility-interactive inverter as that term is defined in UL 1741 sections 2.1.23, 2.1.52” and “[c]ontains, or is designed, equipped, or configured to accept, a component that enables remote communication, control, sensing, data-collection, or monitoring through Ethernet, Wi-Fi, cellular, Bluetooth, or other similar connections, whether wired or wireless.”

The bureau said the Commission’s FAQ (frequently asked questions) page had been updated accordingly.

News: FederalLegislation DataSecurity