Image by Maria Godfrida from Pixabay
By Jo Nova
Nice grid you have there, shame if someone suddenly… switched it off
Two insiders at the US Dept of Energy say they have found covert devices inside solar panel inverters and batteries that would allow them to communicate with China. Even though firewalls have been put in place, these backdoor devices could operate around them.
Last August a Dutch white hat hacker got into 4 million panels in 150 countries in an effort to warn the West that major infrastructure was vulnerable. A month later an Australian cyber expert warned that a foreign hacker could turn our home batteries into “pager-bombs” too. If a hostile power turned off the overcharge protection on a sunny day, millions of solar panels would be pumping excess electricity into batteries that have no safety cut off. A few houses start to go off like popcorn, and an hour later we’re all living at the Western Front. How exactly would our firemen cope if 1 in 100 homes caught fire at the same time, and then we had a blackout? Anyone?
Individual solar panel inverters are generally too small to trigger national security assessments, but right now at lunchtime solar power is the largest single source of electricity in Australia — making 13 gigawatts out of 27. That’s half our national supply. In summer it’s worse.
We’ve turned our duck curve into a sitting duck…
It’s a win every which way for China if we install more solar panels. Not only are we paying them for the panels, and sanctifying their slavery, but we set fire to our electricity prices, driving our factories to China where they burn our coal. Now to ice this Gridkill Gateau we hand them a backdoor for sabotage or extortion should they ever get the urge to use it.
No wonder China is funding climate activists in the US and UK. They’d be crazy if they weren’t doing it here too.
This is Fall of Rome type stuff, and we’ve got Chris ‘Blackout’ Bowen to save us…
The only good thing about this is that while we were destroying our industrial base with solar panels anyway, the hidden transmitters are so overtly hostile, so in-your-face nasty, that sleeping Westerners might even wake up. Holy smoke. Does anyone think those secret radios were put there to help us?
Reuters: Rogue communication devices found in Chinese solar power inverters
LONDON, May 14 (Reuters) – U.S. energy officials are reassessing the risk posed by Chinese-made devices that play a critical role in renewable energy infrastructure after unexplained communication equipment was found inside some of them, two people familiar with the matter said.
However, rogue communication devices not listed in product documents have been found in some Chinese solar power inverters by U.S experts who strip down equipment hooked up to grids to check for security issues, the two people said. Over the past nine months, undocumented communication devices, including cellular radios, have also been found in some batteries from multiple Chinese suppliers, one of them said.
The rogue components provide additional, undocumented communication channels that could allow firewalls to be circumvented remotely, with potentially catastrophic consequences, the two people said.
“We know that China believes there is value in placing at least some elements of our core infrastructure at risk of destruction or disruption,” said Mike Rogers, a former director of the U.S. National Security Agency. “I think that the Chinese are, in part, hoping that the widespread use of inverters limits the options that the West has to deal with the security issue.”
In November, solar power inverters in the U.S. and elsewhere were disabled from China, highlighting the risk of foreign influence over local electricity supplies and causing concern among government officials, three people familiar with the matter said.
Reuters was unable to determine how many inverters were switched off, or the extent of disruption to grids. The DOE declined to comment on the incident.
The Communist Party could have said that they would never sanction such a hostile act, and it must be a company acting alone, but they didn’t:
A spokesperson for the Chinese embassy in Washington said: “We oppose the generalisation of the concept of national security, distorting and smearing China’s infrastructure achievements.”
Infrastructure achievements indeed. A Freudian slip?
There is plenty of risk to share around:
The European Solar Manufacturing Council estimates over 200 GW of European solar power capacity is linked to inverters made in China – equivalent to more than 200 nuclear power plants. At the end of last year, there was 338 GW of installed solar power in Europe, according to industry association SolarPower Europe.
Though Europe is saved, somewhat, by having lots of interconnectors and not much sun. That is, apart from Portugal, Spain and Greece, and we still don’t know what caused that blackout that started in the solar farms?
In Australian Senator James Paterson was warning this was possible in August 2023, saying 58% of solar panel inverters in Australia were made by companies headquartered in China. And what have we done? We installed another half a million solar PV units on homes in Australia.
Gangbusters on the gang-plank.
h/t Charles May, Jakk*, Reader.
What’s in the Chinese electric cars then?
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The Chicomms have banned Teslas near “sensitive” Chinese locations. They wouldn’t have done that were they not aware of the intelligence-gathering capabilities of EVs.
I would not be surprised in the least if Chinese EVs were comprehensive mobile spying platforms disguised as low cost EVs.
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David,
one thing I can tell you is that Google Maps did not work in China when I was there
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OldOzzie, I was in China in 2015.
I was using Google Maps to translate some Chinese street addresses to Eastings and Northings to put in a GPS. Well, I found that those coordinates did not correspond to the same location on the GPS map as on Google Maps but were offset hundreds of metres. Well, it turns out that Google complies with a Chinese request to produce a random offset of grid coordinates compared with the real position. So don’t trust grid coordinates produced by Google Maps for China or you will end up lost!
I don’t know if they still do this.
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We won’t find out in America. We don’t have Chinese vehicles, but, yeah, you buy a product made in Communist China and you take your chances.
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Can Australia, or the UK [home of the Lovespoon, if nothing else manufactured] replace these imported inverters, etc.?
Do we have the technical and manufacturing base to do so – if we wish to do so?
Are we already too far gone?
Auto
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I wonder of its possible to replace the firmware in them? But it depends how closed-down the design is. If not, at least it might be possible to disable any possibility of external communications from the inverter to elsewhere, although that would prevent monitoring and updates etc..
Or how about we just don’t use solar?
Here’s an idea, let’s revert to reliable, inexpensive and environmentally friendly coal, gas, or in mature countries, nuclear power? All supplied from a convenient low-footprint central location.
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I covered such a reverse-engineering a router project many moons ago.
You can dump the firmware, edit out any dial-home etc code and reflash.
But it’s a long-standing issue:
Critical Infrastructure Under Siege: OT Security Still Lags
Operational technology and critical infrastructure are under attack, according to new warnings from the US federal government.
Last week, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security (CISA), the FBI, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the Department of Energy (DoE) warned that they were “aware of cyber incidents affecting the operational technology (OT) and industrial control systems (ICS) of critical infrastructure entities in the United States.”
Industrial organizations and other kinds of critical infrastructure are regularly near or at the top of vendor lists highlighting ransomware targets. It’s easy to see why; the important assets a threat actor could compromise put immense pressure on affected organizations to pay up. Kurt Gaudette, vice president of intelligence and services at Dragos, tells Dark Reading that the OT side of the house is “where the bottom line is.”
And indeed, Sophos reported last year that 65% of respondent organizations in the manufacturing sector reported that they suffered a ransomware attack in the year preceding the report; of those, 62% of organizations paid the ransom.
https://www.darkreading.com/ics-ot-security/critical-infrastructure-ot-security-still-lags
As I’ve said over and over – organisations can be hacked for years and not know it. They can quietly pay up to avoid crashing their companies.
I mentioned months ago that AV giant Kaspersky makes its source code available to governments and high-security organisations to PROVE there are no backdoors etc.
But they got banned anyway due to Russiaphobia.
There’s no reason other vendors in other industries can’t do the same or be required to.
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A Trojan horse.
Just imagine if the Chicomms decided to turn off all Australian rooftop solar?
The grid would probably collapse, especially after the government destroys the next coal power station.
And that’s exactly why during the first TRUMP administration he banned the import of large scale electrical infrastructure from China, a ban reversed by Biden.
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Most of the left and the MSM who suffer from TDS would say…
“Trump blamed Chyna for the cough, now he’s accusing them of cyber crime. He’s not only a nazi, he’s a racist”!
Luckily for Australia we have Chris Bowen at the helm! /sarc
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Notice how smooth the Dispatchable Power is before and after the solar power is there.
No wonder main power supply is always changing frequencies, and therefore costing more to produce.
Nothing quite like helping the people who
do not have your best interests at heart.
I just wonder how long this has been going on for?
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The Chicomms mostly copy, they don’t innovate.
So they are heavily dependent on military and industrial espionage plus relying on the willing services of traitorous politicians, many of whom we have in Australia and other Western countries and the US had under the Biden Maladministration (e.g. those associated with Fang Fang and the driver of Senator Feinstein, discovered to be a spy).
Did you ever wonder why so many Chinese military aircraft look like American ones, or cars, copies of Japanese, European or American ones, or even copies of SpaceX rockets?
Then their Apps like TikTok harvest personnel data, banned for use on Government devices in the US and perhaps elsewhere. The youth of the West are addicted to such Apps but their main purpose is to harvest your information and that of associates plus promote moral degeneracy to weaken the West. Even more so than Farcebook.
Then there’s solar inverters and just about all other “intelligent” domestic appliances like TV’s and robot vacuum cleaners with cameras or security cameras, indoor and outdoor, some banned for Government use in Australia.
And then there’s the possibility that computer chips designed in China have spyware or back doors hard-coded into them, very hard if not impossible to detect.
The more dependent we are on China the weaker the West becomes. Only one world leader, TRUMP, recognises this. His five-move-ahead chess move is to reduce or eliminate US dependence on China, all disguised as a tariff war.
Also see:
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Chinese High-Speed Trains
China has developed high-speed trains based on technology from Japan, Germany, and France. The CRH1A and CRH1B trains, nicknamed “Metro” or “Bread,” are derived from Bombardier’s Regina design, with Bombardier being based in Germany.
The CRH2 series, nicknamed “Hairtail,” is a modified version of the Japanese Shinkansen E2-1000 series.
Additionally, the CRH3C and CRH380 series trains are based on technology from Siemens in Germany.
These trains have been adapted to fit China’s standards and have been improved upon, leading to the development of the Fuxing Hao trains, which are based on indigenous technologies.
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China Railway High-speed runs different electric multiple unit trainsets, the name Hexie Hao is for designs which are imported from other nations and designated CRH-1 through CRH-5 and CRH380A(L), CRH380B(L), and CRH380C(L).
CRH trainsets are intended to provide fast and convenient travel between cities.
Some of the Hexie Hao train sets are manufactured locally through technology transfer, a key requirement for China.
The signalling, track and support structures, control software, and station design are developed domestically with foreign elements as well.
By 2010, the track system as a whole is predominantly Chinese.
China currently holds many new patents related to the internal components of these trains, re-designed to allow the trains to run at higher speeds than the foreign designs allowed.
However, these patents are only valid within China, and as such hold no international power.
The weakness on intellectual property of Hexie Hao causes obstructions for China to export its high-speed rail related products, which lead to the development of the completely redesigned train brand called Fuxing Hao , based on indigenous technologies.
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Factional assassin Richard Marles has just bought 2 warships from China. I doubt they’ll be bugged and the steel will definitely be warship grade
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That’s unbelievable.
In addition to being bugged and poor steel, they will have precise knowledge of their capabilities and electromagnetic, optical and acoustic signatures etc..
And probably a master OFF switch like solar panels.
Expect more of this in future.
Don’t forget our PM is a communist as are many Labor members, cabinet ministers and associates.
Back in the day it was considered traitorous and shameful to be a communist. Now Australia is ruled by them at all levels of Government and the senior public “service” and elsewhere such as the judiciary.
Rudy Dutschke’s “long march through the institutions”.
A socialist is just a patient communist.
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Thanks David. I have always been suspicious the PM was and is a communist. I think his groveling to China, his disinterest in Chinese naval vessels on two occasions. Then there his mad push to buy from China for solar and wind is a dead give away. His outrageous lies and his mediscare ads all point to someone who is not what he appears. What happened to truth in advertising? If you or I did that we would be in strife. Oh and how have we landed in a trillion dollar debt plus the debt of the states. To whom is this money owed?
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How do you know of this purchase?
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All I can find is a fleet of Damon designed tugboats, built in China heading for the port of Darwin.
(Hate using ABC sources but only ones reporting on it.)
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The internet of things is a Chinese plot to destroy the western world! /s
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It would be good to make an open source solar inverter such as:
https://github.com/yakmoh/Green-Energy
But such a design would have to be substantially upgraded to achieve, high power, regulatory compliance and grid feed capabilities.
It might not be possible in places like Australia where Big Green and Chicomms dictate government policy.
And really, the last election in Australia showed that most people simply don’t have a clue and don’t care. They will accept the present situation as long as the free stuff keeps coming and some of the world’s most highly taxed cold beer keeps flowing.
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The government needs to mandate that the cost of certifying (hybrid) small (<=15kw) solar inverters and batteries to Australian standards is minimal. The fee should be low enough that Australian owned distributors (rather than foreign manufacturers) can profitably do so. Competition would seriously increase options for the installers. As well the certification process should require "back door" checks (and perhaps mandate non-internet connected control/monitoring options).
And unlike the certification of foreign (medical?) credentials, an explanation of failure points should be mandatory.
The cynical in me wonders how many products would meet Australian standards and not meet European CE standards (or vice versa)
The home rooftop market can no longer be easily limited. Industrial scale installations are an entirely different problem, both in approval and engineering implementation.
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Again, if we haven’t installed energy security we haven’t installed national security. I mean who doesn’t understand these very simple rules?
Our number one priority is CHEAPER, RELIABLE BASELOAD energy, not EXPENSIVE, UNRELIABLE, TOXIC W & S and a WASTE of trillions of $ and definitely ZERO change to climate by 2050 or 2100.
Chinese slave made toxic panels only provide electricity for about 1.8 months of every year (15%) and they could be booby traps or timebombs as well.
Why are so many OECD countries so stupid and why do our voters install some of the dumbest people on the planet? Why have Aussies voted for delusional Labor, Greens and Teals wreckers who are guaranteed to WASTE TRILLIONS of $ for decades into the future?
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Good point.
Surely it couldn’t or shouldn’t have been Dutton’s lack of a personality, lack of commitment of belief in anything, undermining by Leftists within the party, trying to be “all things to all people” which made the party nothing to anyone…etc..
DESPITE ALL THAT, the Liberals were still a less bad choice than Labor.
I suspect the real reason is the Left’s deliberate dumbing-down of the education system over the last 50 or 60 years, Communist indoctrination and the failure to teach critical thinking skills.
To fix up the mess we need a strong leader like TRUMP (Ley isn’t it), a new genuine conservative pro-science, pro-reason, moral political party and to reform the education system.
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Two thirds of Aussies didnt vote for labor so maybe there is still a bit of hope left?
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34.6% Labor (admittedly not the final tally) vs 31.96 Liberals (incl. Nationals, Lib.Nat Qld, and NT) vs 9.66% for ‘far right’ parties including. Pauline Hansen who got a 1.4% swing (to 6.4%). Clive’s Trumpets got a 1.5% swing to 1.9%.
(The Greens 12.04 down 0.21 and Socialists slight loss and Labor a 2% swing in favour).
It seems to me that the Liberals might have down better without trying to be the same as Labor. Trying to be the same (but more expensive by not disputing Labor’s lies) won’t help.
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Apparently the new definition of “mandate” means about one third of the populace vote for you, then use a preferential voting system to somehow harvest enough “other” votes to get into power.
Politicians of all persuasions should hang their heads in shame at thinking they represent the will of the people.
Except its not about the people , its about personal engrandment and power and somehow coming out of politics with fortunes that could not possibly made any other way.
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We won’t find out in America. We don’t have Chinese vehicles, but, yeah, you buy a product made in Communist China and you take your chances.
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Our power box has two transceivers stuck on top. I’m probably paranoid but I often look at them and wonder if they’re the power box version of ankle monitors.
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Whenever the construction of a defence building reaches a certain milestone they go in and check for Chinese devices and then proceed to jack hammer them out of the concrete walls, I have been told by someone a build in Canberra was so riddled with Chinese devices it was easier to knock the building down and start again. Its the same as driving a Chinese battery car or using Chinese drones, or Chinese phones on defence land.
To some people its common sense, obviously the cult of doom fixated on a non existent boogy man never thought to check that kind of thing and just went for the cheapest option so now we have to pay the price.
I think you will find this is just the tip of the iceberg.
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You know something is amiss when everyone is thinking the same thing, but everyone remains silent. In this case we’re all wondering why there is no plan to immediately ban inverters, batteries and panels from China, given we’ve just found out they have been weaponised to bring down our entire grid with the aim of a hostile national takeover. Of course the reason for the silence is because the crooked government, complicit media and complicit institutions have invested more human, political and actual taxpayer capital into transitioning to RE than any other political objective in our history and to acknowledge this weaponisation would be an admission of the most enormous failure imaginable and would instantly end the careers of everyone involved and leave their reputations in ruins. So, they all remain silent to keep their careers and reputations in tact until our inevitable end unravels, with no regard for the 26 million people living in this nation.
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You’re right Serge – possibly a legacy of the COVID years, but we all now seem to self censor a lot. Once, it was never talk politics or religion at social / family gatherings. Now, just about every subject is contentious. Talk about food- nope, there’ll be some nutter vegetarian, vegan in the gathering or someone will claim we should all be eating organic food. Talk about cricket, that was safe once because it was a national team we all supported. No, no no, Pat Cummins is a climate alarmist and Khawaja supports Gaza. Can’t talk about the weather, someone will say all the weather is a result of man made climate change. Gets harder all the time. 🙁
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Here’s the first Adi Paterson interview I heard in June 2024 and at that time I thought I was listening to the most rational and sane person and I hoped he could debate the liars and con merchants about Nuclear energy and help the Coalition to win the next election.
But alas their ABC, the CSIRO and other halfwits told every lie in the book and nobody wanted to debate him on the facts, because they knew they’d lose.
He was right when he called it a con to claim that toxic W & S was the cheapest energy, but he was locked out of any full debate on the facts. Here’s the short ABC interview and at least he was able to present the facts at this early stage.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J50hWO2DKHc
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https://www.news.com.au/technology/motoring/home-affairs-minister-tony-burke-accused-of-driving-chinese-ev/news-story/b4e5fbced8c980869b915f68869a1256
I reckon I have been around long enough to know a security risk when I see one but not this time because the home affairs minister “takes the position that he should not and does not discuss sensitive matters in any car”.
Where is Bagdad Bob when you need him?
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Oh by the way the Federal Gov is expanding the reach of nut zero and will be placing solar panels on government buildings obviously they will be made in china.
For those that still live in the delusional world where politicians are smart they want to put solar panels on the roof of hangars less than 100 meters from an ATC tower, there is at least one person pushing this crap with some brain cells still in tact as they took pictures to work out how bad the glare will be.
Jesus Effing Wept
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BTW Adi Paterson was the CEO of the Ansto Opal Nuclear reactor that has helped to save thousands of lives in Australia and around the world.
This 4 minute video helps us understand the use of Nuclear medicine and many other ways this Opal reactor has helped Aussie industries.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EiAkelzSIGg&t=2s
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Chris Kenny last night talked to Aiden Morrison about BO Bowen’s ongoing train wreck of toxic, unreliable W & S and we can only hope we don’t WASTE more taxpayer funds to prop up these disasters.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQYIrjRkX9M
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Look, the way the feed in tariffs are going (down with a cement block), I’m not sure solar panels will be any influence on the grid anyway. Perhaps the larger solar installations might still be important as they possibly have better contract prices, but not private dwellings etc. The sensible proposal would be to limit home/ business power generation to the site of generation only. No feeding back to the grid allowed. Bloody stupid idea anyway, because it was all the other taxpayers who subsidised the installations.
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