The FCC moved on July 28 to add foreign-made power inverters to its Covered List, triggering a robot vacuum ban-style restriction on new foreign-made models in the United States. The action blocks authorization for covered models and narrows their import, marketing, and sale in the U.S.
Wood Mackenzie says the U.S. market has already depended on more than 200 GWac of PV inverters over the past decade, with more than 90% imported and more than 70 GW coming from China-based manufacturers. That supply pattern is now colliding with a faster domestic buildout that could push annual production capacity above 100 GWac by the end of 2027.
FCC Covered List on July 28
The FCC placed foreign-made power inverters on its list of equipment deemed to pose a national security risk on July 28. The practical effect is straightforward: new foreign-made models that fall under FCC equipment authorization procedures no longer move through the market in the same way, and the restriction reaches import, marketing, and sale inside the United States.
That change lands directly on developers, equipment buyers, and suppliers that have treated imported inverter hardware as a normal part of commercial, industrial, and utility-scale procurement. The rule is aimed at cybersecurity and vulnerabilities in critical supply chains, so the market is now shifting from a cost-first sourcing model to one shaped more tightly by regulatory clearance.
Wood Mackenzie and U.S. supply
Wood Mackenzie said manufacturers’ announced plans could raise domestic annual production capacity for PV inverters and PCS used in energy storage systems above 100 GWac by the end of 2027. If those projects materialize, the U.S. would have a much larger homegrown base just as imported equipment faces tighter limits.
Wood Mackenzie also said average inverter prices are expected to increase by 2027 as developers replace lower-cost imports with domestic alternatives. For buyers, that points to a narrower supplier pool and a more expensive procurement path, especially where imported models had been the least costly option.
China-based manufacturers
The concentration of imports makes the restriction sharper. More than 70 GW of the imported equipment came from China-based manufacturers, and Chinese suppliers accounted for nearly 50% of the U.S. inverter market in 2024 and 2025.
That leaves developers with a basic operational choice: move earlier toward domestic sourcing or wait for FCC guidance to see exactly which equipment categories land inside the final scope. Some project owners are already watching whether existing equipment will keep receiving firmware updates if manufacturers are affected by the new limits, which adds another layer of risk beyond the purchase itself.
Wood Mackenzie said future FCC guidance will be critical in determining which equipment falls under the regulation, especially for utility-scale inverters that can operate through wired connections. The next practical step for the market is to read that guidance closely, because the boundary between covered and uncovered equipment will decide which models can still be bought, installed, and supported in the United States.
