What the FCC's Covered List Update Means for Commercial Solar
Hardik Nakrani, Senior Project Manager
July 28, 2026 – The FCC’s Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau added foreign-produced power inverters to its Covered List - the roster of communications equipment and services the U.S. government has determined pose “an unacceptable risk to the national security of the United States or the security and safety of United States persons.”
The action followed two National Security Determinations submitted to the FCC on July 27 by a White House-convened Executive Branch interagency body. The same action also added certain advanced robotic devices, including humanoid and quadruped robots, although the inclusion of power inverters is the development most relevant to the solar and energy storage industries.
The FCC announced the addition in Public Notice DA 26-786. A companion notice issued the same day, DA 26-789, addresses software and firmware updates for equipment that had already received FCC authorization.
For solar and storage projects, the FCC’s July 28th action does not change what is on the ground today, nor does it require projects currently under construction to change course. Installed equipment, previously purchased units, and spares for models that were already authorized remain unaffected.
What changes is the forward-looking procurement analysis: whether a particular inverter model already has FCC authorization, where the equipment is produced, and whether the manufacturer has obtained - or is pursuing - a Conditional Approval. For most commercial solar and storage portfolios, this is primarily a specification and procurement question, not an immediate schedule or budget event.
The key takeaway is that the change is meaningful, but narrower than the headline may suggest, with defined pathways available for compliant equipment.
What Actually Changed
The Covered List now includes “foreign-produced power inverters, except power inverters which have been granted a Conditional Approval by DoW or DHS.” Two definitions drive everything here.
“Power inverter” is defined broadly. It covers any bi-directional device that converts DC to AC (or AC to DC) - microinverters, string inverters, central inverters, and hybrid battery-based inverters—that also contains components enabling remote communication, control, sensing, data collection, or monitoring via Wi-Fi, cellular, Bluetooth, or similar connections. In practice, nearly every modern commercial inverter with a monitoring platform falls inside this definition. Both prongs have to be met, so a unit with no remote communication capability sits outside the definition - though that describes very little of the equipment specified on commercial projects today.
“Foreign-produced” means any article that does not qualify as a “domestic end product” under the Buy American standard at 48 CFR § 25.101(a). This is a country-of-manufacture test, not a test of who owns the company. A U.S.-headquartered brand can still produce a “foreign-produced” inverter, and a foreign-headquartered manufacturer could theoretically produce a domestic one.
What It Does Not Do
This is the part worth reading twice, because the practical impact is far more limited than “inverters are banned” would imply:
● It does not affect equipment already installed or previously purchased. Systems in operation - and inverters already sitting in a warehouse or staged on a project - are unaffected.
● It does not force removal or replacement of anything. There is no rip-and-replace mandate in this action.
● It does not stop retailers from selling, importing, or marketing models that already received FCC equipment authorization. By operation of the Covered List rules, the restriction applies to new device models seeking authorization.
● It does not affect purchase or use by the federal government.
● It does not cut off software or firmware updates for already-authorized units. Covered List status would ordinarily bar Class I and Class II permissive changes, which is how those updates are delivered. On July 28 the FCC’s Office of Engineering and Technology waived that prohibition for inverters authorized before the listing, allowing updates that patch vulnerabilities and preserve functionality through at least January 1, 2029 (DA 26-789).
The mechanism is the FCC's equipment authorization process. Covered equipment can't receive a new equipment authorization, and most electronic devices need that authorization before they can be imported, marketed, or sold in the U.S. So the real chokepoint is future models entering the market—not the equipment already flowing through today's pipelines.
The Reasoning Behind the Determination
The interagency body cited two categories of risk: a supply-chain vulnerability that could disrupt U.S. economic and national security, and a cybersecurity risk to critical infrastructure. The supporting record leans on the grid’s growing reliance on inverter-based resources, the historically small share of U.S. inverter supply coming from domestic manufacturers, and the remote connectivity built into modern inverters, which the determination describes as a vector that could be used to shut units down, exfiltrate data, enable surveillance, or otherwise disrupt grid operations. Whatever one's view of the policy, the direction of travel is clear: onshoring and supply-chain security for grid-edge devices are now a federal priority.
What This Means for Developers and Asset Owners
The practical question is not whether inverters are “banned” but where a given unit sits in the procurement cycle. Four contexts cover most commercial portfolios, plus one standing caveat:
1. Installed and operating assets. No removal obligation and no replacement mandate, and nothing here creates an interconnection consequence. Systems energized today keep operating exactly as they are.
2. Equipment in inventory or on order. Previously authorized models can still be imported, sold, installed, and operated. Purchase orders written against authorized models do not need to be unwound, and equipment already landed is unaffected.
3. Spares and replacements. Also fine for authorized models, which is what matters most for O&M programs and warranty swaps - where the ability to source a matching unit years after COD is the whole point.
4. Future procurement. This is where the action actually has a meaningful impact, because it targets models that have not yet cleared equipment authorization. Ordering from manufacturers producing in the U.S. - or from those holding or pursuing a Conditional Approval - is the simplest way to take the question off the table. Country of manufacture and current authorization status now belong on the diligence list alongside price, performance, and warranty.
5. Expect the landscape to keep shifting. The FCC has signaled it will continue updating the Covered List as it receives further determinations, and it has already issued one follow-up notice on this listing. This follows similar recent actions on uncrewed aircraft systems, consumer routers, and now robotics, so follow-up notices are worth monitoring closely.
Exposure also varies by segment. Rooftop portfolios frequently standardize on module-level or string inverters from suppliers that have moved production into the U.S., which limits the practical effect. Ground-mount, carport, and floating projects more often specify inverters produced abroad, so those pipelines are the ones worth screening first - beginning with confirmation that the specified model already holds equipment authorization.
This article is for general informational purposes and reflects our reading of the FCC's July 28, 2026 Public Notices (DA 26-786 and DA 26-789) and accompanying materials. It is not legal advice. Manufacturers and project stakeholders should consult qualified counsel on how these requirements apply to specific equipment and transactions.
