Gents,

This could be fake news, but if it is true, very scary indeed.

China has installed kill switches in solar panels sold to the West

My brother in solar, we can barely get watch power to connect to our axperts on a good day, and you honestly think they've installed kill switches on Solar Panels?

On the Panels. Not the inverters. The Panels. Which you can physically inspect.

Lawd

The media always get technical stuff "wrong" for "reasons"

The inverters are where the devices were found, this has nothing to do with the panels.

It is very easy to hide radio comms devices in circuits these days so it is not outside the realm of possibility.

Edited May 16, 20251 yr by WannabeSolarSparky

It might just be conspiracy theories. My Solis had what seemed to be a simcard, I left it as is. They do not need hidden coms to shut them down, since the majority are connected via wifi/ethernet. If concerned, delete the dongles, use rs485 or waveshare, either via home assistant or other preferred method.

The security of the BMSes are a much bigger concern, since none of them are secured on bluetooth. Any bad actor can access them, shut them down, change OVP etc, just by being close enough.

Kill switches sound like breakers, but then the issue becomes communication devices and finally a firewall will save you. This sounds like first world problems, we have Eskom.

I'm sure now that these unnamed sources have spoken without authority to do so... electronics designers and scientists will look at these devices and put actionable information in the public domain. Really doesn't help that they don't mention specific brands and specific exploits. That just throws a blanket over all chinese product, which could be a pretty suspect move as it is. I'd like some details first. Would be interesting seeing the guys from Sunsynk for example comment on this.

9 hours ago, display_Name said:

Really doesn't help that they don't mention specific brands and specific exploits.

That's the crux, where are the photos of the supposed devices and how are they supposed to communicate? via cell signals? how will the carriers allow this, without getting paid? Klink soos 'n klomp stront.

Let me add to this, I saw this story 2 days ago, but immediately decided it was load of codswallop and thus did not post it here or anywhere else, after all, this is for the uninformed who can not employ critical thinking to realise this has a less than 1% chance of being true, since there are too many obstacles in the way that make this the most unlikely scenario, but it ties in with Ronald Bumpkins economic attack on China...

Edited May 19, 20251 yr by Kalahari Meerkat
let me add...

On 2025/05/16 at 6:25 PM, WannabeSolarSparky said:

The media always get technical stuff "wrong" for "reasons"

The media always gets technical most stuff ....FIFY

10 hours ago, display_Name said:

That just throws a blanket over all chinese product, which could be a pretty suspect move as it is. I'd like some details first.

Yes. It's a strange report. It stops without actually getting to a conclusion, and never quotes any sources - not even a chat show host or a Professor Of Something Unrelated.

The story is spreading: https://mybroadband.co.za/news/security/595348-concerns-over-secret-huawei-solar-power-kill-switches-in-south-africa.html

Sounds like Reuters is also reported on it. Fake news one step removed?

That makes more sense. Inverters are likely to be connected to the Internet via the owner's WiFi.

But

1) Huawei. The favourite bogey man. The US government already put the kibosh on their phones & 5G network kit

2) They have to have a way to find an inverter. Goodwe can update firmware on my inverter without knowing where it is (and have)

3) Utilities may want the remote control feature. Too much PV power when you can't deal with it? Turn those suckers off! Or at least stop them feeding back into the grid. Rental companies may want this too. Your debit order bounces, they turn your inverter off.

The feature in itself is not that sinister.

19 hours ago, frivan said:

The story is spreading: https://mybroadband.co.za/news/security/595348-concerns-over-secret-huawei-solar-power-kill-switches-in-south-africa.html

Sounds like Reuters is also reported on it. Fake news one step removed?

MyBB. LoL