SEIA says cybersecurity should advance alongside the growth of US solar and energy storage to better protect critical energy infrastructure
The report recommends expanding domestic inverter manufacturing, adopting common cybersecurity standards and improving cyber threat information sharing
The whitepaper comes amid growing scrutiny of Chinese solar inverters, with the US and EU citing cybersecurity concerns over critical infrastructure
A new report from the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) says the growth of the US solar and energy storage sector should be matched by stronger cybersecurity measures and increased domestic manufacturing.
In a recently released white paper, the association says protecting clean energy infrastructure must go hand in hand with strengthening American supply chains as solar and storage capacity continues to grow.
While admitting that cyberattacks on the solar and energy storage sector are relatively rare compared to other parts of the energy industry, SEIA says as their contribution to the US energy mix rises, stronger cybersecurity measures are needed to protect this ‘critical’ and ‘strategic’ infrastructure. In 2025, solar and storage accounted for nearly 80% of new capacity added to the US grid (see US Solar Deployments Dropped 14% YoY In 2025 With 43.2 GW DC Installed).
The report cites several past cyber incidents related to energy infrastructure, including a firewall vulnerability that disrupted monitoring of SPower's solar generation sites in the US in 2019, a ransomware attack that shut down a major US fuel pipeline in 2021, and cyberattacks on the Ukrainian power grid that caused power outages and disruptions.
Authors of the report underline that these incidents highlight the need for basic cybersecurity practices such as multifactor authentication, vulnerability management, secure remote access, network segmentation, and incident response planning.
The association recommends a set of measures to improve cybersecurity across the solar and energy storage industry. This includes expanding domestic manufacturing of inverters. As of July 2026, SEIA reports that the country’s domestic inverter manufacturing capacity has reached 55 GW AC. It highlights EPC Power’s 167,000 sq. ft. fab in Fountain Inn, South Carolina, with 27 GW annual capacity that’s set to reach full capacity by July 2026.
The report also calls for promoting consistent cybersecurity standards at the national level, including guidance for distributed energy sources, and improving information sharing to better identify and respond to cyber threats, given that several solar and storage systems are managed remotely.
SEIA President and CEO Tim Pawlenty said, “From secure and resilient systems to expanding domestic manufacturing, this report lays out the actions our industry is taking to strengthen U.S. energy security, protect critical infrastructure, and stay ahead of emerging threats.”
The complete white paper, titled Cybersecurity Priorities for America’s Solar & Storage Industry, is available for free download on the SEIA website.
The SEIA white paper comes as the US is reportedly drafting rules to restrict imports of Chinese solar inverters over cybersecurity concerns. The move follows similar steps in the European Union (EU), which has excluded Chinese inverters from publicly funded projects, citing risks to critical energy infrastructure (see US Reportedly Eyeing Ban On Chinese Solar Inverter Imports).
Earlier, SEIA’s European counterpart, SolarPower Europe, highlighted cybersecurity risks for the EU’s growing solar energy generation in a report (see EU Solar PV Industry Calls For Cybersecurity Measures).
