The addiction of large swaths of the Western establishment to their green ‘transition’ has already created dangerous dependencies on China.

The addiction of large swaths of the Western establishment to their green “transition” has already created dangerous dependencies on China, whether in the electric vehicle supply chain or for components used in renewable energy — components such as power inverters for solar power. These convert the DC current generated by a solar panel into the AC current the grid requires. According to the Department of Energy, they are “one of the most important pieces of equipment in a solar energy system.”

Most are produced in China. But of course. That’s bad enough, and that’s without this bit of news from Reuters:

While inverters are built to allow remote access for updates and maintenance, the utility companies that use them typically install firewalls to prevent direct communication back to China.

However, rogue communication devices not listed in product documents have been found in some Chinese solar power inverters by U.S experts who strip down equipment hooked up to grids to check for security issues . . . two people [familiar with the matter] said. . . .

The rogue components provide additional, undocumented communication channels that could allow firewalls to be circumvented remotely, with potentially catastrophic consequences, the two people said. . . .

Using the rogue communication devices to skirt firewalls and switch off inverters remotely, or change their settings, could destabilise power grids, damage energy infrastructure, and trigger widespread blackouts, experts said.

The U.S. has yet to comment officially on this, but the Department of Energy is said to be looking into the matter. It has also come out with a general statement to the effect (Reuters reports) “that it continually assesses risk associated with emerging technologies and that there were significant challenges with manufacturers disclosing and documenting functionalities.” People buying Chinese equipment need to understand its capabilities.

Or maybe they just need to stop buying Chinese inverters.

The obvious problem, of course, is that Western countries have installed more and more solar capacity. As noted in the latest Capital Letter (which was focused on the recent blackout in Iberia), the greater the share of renewables sending power into a grid, the more its resilience may be undermined. Now throw in the danger of some sabotage. . . .