Questions raised about the cybersecurity of foreign-made equipment connected to America’s electric grid should be taken seriously. But the answer is not to abandon solar and battery storage at the very moment the country needs more electricity. It is to manufacture more of that equipment here at home and strengthen our cybersecurity protocols.
America’s energy debate is changing because the demands on the grid are changing. Artificial intelligence, advanced manufacturing, data centers and a modern defense industrial base all require enormous amounts of electricity. If the United States cannot produce abundant affordable power, we will lose jobs, investment and technological leadership to countries like China that are building faster.
This challenge is about more than economics. It’s about national security. American energy powers our factories, military installations, hospitals, communications networks and countless other entities that support a robust economy and national defense. A weak grid is a strategic vulnerability as well as an economic problem. America has rightly recognized the strategic importance of producing semiconductors and critical minerals at home. The technologies that generate, store and manage our electricity deserve that same priority.
That includes solar inverters, the grid-connected components that convert electricity from solar panels and batteries into power that homes, businesses and the grid can use. Any digitally connected device — an iPhone, Bluetooth connected headphones, for example — are vulnerable to cyberattacks. And as such, concerns about the cybersecurity of foreign-made inverters are understandable. That said, these concerns should strengthen the case for robust cybersecurity protocols and trusted American manufacturing, not weaken the case for solar.
Data shows that the market is already moving in that direction. EPC Power recently opened a 167,000-square-foot inverter factory in Fountain Inn, South Carolina, nearly tripling its production capacity in response to demand from AI data centers and other large power users.
That is exactly the kind of development we should champion. It means American workers building energy technology in an American factory to help power American innovation.
EPC Power is only one part of a much larger manufacturing renaissance. U.S. inverter manufacturing has nearly tripled since the end of 2024 and America is now tied as the world’s second-largest inverter manufacturer.
America’s dominance in the solar supply chain doesn’t stop there. In fact, solar energy technology was invented right here in the USA. Over the last several decades, U.S. manufacturing struggled to keep up with foreign competitors that invested in building a domestic industry. Thankfully, things have changed — and today, the United States ranks third in solar module manufacturing. Today, we have enough module manufacturing capacity to serve the entire U.S. market. We also rank second in battery energy storage manufacturing, a critical technology that allows us to store solar energy and deploy it when the grid needs it the most.
The importance of these achievements is underscored by the necessity to continue building on this success. China has spent years trying to dominate solar, batteries, critical minerals and other technologies that will shape the next generation of energy infrastructure. America cannot afford to replace dependence on foreign oil with dependence on Chinese-controlled energy supply chains. A serious national security strategy should include more domestic production of solar panels, batteries, inverters, transformers and grid equipment.
At the same time, U.S. electricity demands are rising to all-time highs. U.S. electricity generation increased only 2.8 percent in 2025 while prices rose 4.6 percent, even as demand from AI, data centers and high-tech manufacturing continues to climb. Solar and storage made up 91 percent of the new energy coming onto the grid in the first quarter of 2026.
If America needs more power quickly — and it does — policymakers should not reject resources that are already adding meaningful supply. Blocking American-made solar and storage, much less American innovation and industry, would limit our options at the very moment we need every resource capable of adding power to the grid.
America has the workers, resources and ingenuity to lead from a position of strength and build the energy technologies we need to meet this moment. Rather than cede the solar industry to our greatest economic competitor, America should manufacture its future here at home.
Steve Crim is president and CEO of Common Sense America.
