U.S. Warns of Hidden Radios in Solar-Powered Highway Infrastructure
U.S. transportation officials have issued a security advisory warning that solar-powered highway equipment — including electric vehicle chargers, weather stations, and traffic cameras — may contain undocumented cellular radios and other rogue devices hidden inside imported inverters and battery systems.
The advisory, circulated by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) on August 20 and reviewed by Reuters, follows discoveries of undocumented communications components in foreign-manufactured power inverters and battery management systems (BMS). While the note did not name a country of origin, many inverters are produced in China, and the warning aligns with rising U.S. scrutiny of Chinese technology in critical infrastructure.
Officials fear such hidden radios could allow remote tampering, enabling disruptions ranging from synchronized outages to the manipulation of roadside systems essential for autonomous vehicle operations. Anomadarshi Barua, a George Mason University researcher, said compromised inverters could be exploited to trigger power surges or send malicious commands, “creating a lot of havoc.”
Earlier this year, U.S. energy officials raised alarms after rogue communications hardware was found in Chinese-made inverters and batteries. Denmark’s grid operators also reported unexplained electronic components in imported energy equipment.
The FHWA memo urged transportation authorities to inventory inverters, conduct spectrum scans for unauthorized signals, remove undocumented radios, and ensure network segmentation to limit exposure.
China’s Embassy in Washington rejected the warnings, denouncing what it called the “distortion and smear of China’s achievements in energy infrastructure.”
The warning adds to broader U.S. measures targeting Chinese technology. Washington has already moved to ban most Chinese cars and trucks from the U.S. market by late 2026 over concerns that vehicle software and sensors could be used for data collection or surveillance.
