Over 30 members of the European Parliament have urged the European Commission to take immediate action to restrict access of Chinese inverters to the European electricity grid.

In a letter addressed to the Commission’s Executive Vice President and Commissioner, the members referred to the threats associated with high-risk Chinese vendors, particularly since 80% of all new solar inverter capacity installed in Europe in 2024 originated from China.

Huawei, designated as a high-risk vendor by the Commission, accounted for over 115 GW of Europe’s solar inverter market as of 2023. It is one of six Chinese vendors that collectively control more than two-thirds of the European market (219 GW), the letter said.

The members said Lithuania had already banned remote Chinese access to solar and wind devices. More recently, the Czech and German national cybersecurity agencies had warned of the risks posed by Chinese-linked technologies in critical sectors, highlighting Chinese inverters as a high-risk technology for supply chain attacks on the grid.

European inverters are barred from entering the Chinese grid due to concerns about cybersecurity. Europe should adopt a similar approach, the members said.

The letter stated that, although the Commission has highlighted the threats posed by high-risk vendors in Europe’s critical infrastructure, no concrete proposals have materialized.

“When the ongoing studies are completed and potential legislation is tabled, as many as two years may have passed. By that time, Europe risks losing its remaining PV inverter manufacturers. Western companies are drastically losing market share in Europe, though they currently still retain the capacity to meet European demand. If one of them succumbs to unfair competition from China, the Union could soon be left without any non-Chinese alternatives,” the members warned.

The letter called for a temporary framework to be established to restrict risky vendors until binding legislation is in place.

“Without immediate and binding EU action, Europe risks not only its energy security but also the viability of all remaining European manufacturers in this sector. We look forward to your urgent response and a clear timeline for legislative action,” the member said.

The European Solar Manufacturing Council, which in May of this year called for imposing restrictions on the unregulated and remote-control capabilities of solar inverters manufactured by Chinese companies, has supported the demand of Commission members.

India has also taken measures to keep rooftop solar telemetry on India-based servers to protect against data leakage. The draft framework standardizes how inverter-side devices authenticate and publish data to a centralized platform, aiming to mitigate cybersecurity risk and enhance grid visibility.