Officials in the US have warned that solar-powered highway infrastructure from China should be scanned for hidden radios and other rogue devices secretly installed in batteries and inverters.

The advisory, sent out in late August by the US Federal Highway Administration, comes amid escalating government action over the presence of Chinese technology in America’s transport infrastructure.

The four-page security note, a copy of which was seen by Reuters, said undocumented cellular radios were discovered “in certain foreign-manufactured power inverters and BMS,” referring to battery management systems, such as chargers, roadside weather stations, and traffic cameras.

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The note, which has not previously been reported, did not specify where the products containing undocumented equipment had been imported from, but many inverters are made in China.

There is increasing concern from US officials that the devices, and electronic systems that manage rechargeable batteries, could be seeded with rogue communication components that would allow them to be remotely tampered with on Beijing’s orders.

In May, Reuters reported that American energy officials were concerned after experts found rogue communication devices in some Chinese inverters and batteries.

Later that month, industry group Green Power Denmark said that unexplained electronic components had been found in imported equipment for Denmark’s energy supply network.

The US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency referred questions to the Department of Transportation, which said in a statement that the advisory “summarizes public and unclassified reporting to ensure agencies are implementing practical mitigation steps for transportation operators.”

It referred further questions back to the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency.

The Chinese Embassy in Washington later said in a statement it opposed “the distortion and smear of China’s achievements in the field of energy infrastructure.”

However, there is little doubt that cybersecurity has become an issue of concern in the solar power sector, because of the growth and importance of solar power grids, plus the bitter division that has emerged between authoritarian states such as China and the US, Europe and Western nations.

Warning re road signs, traffic cameras, EV chargers

In its advisory, the Federal Highway Administration noted federal and state-level reports about “undocumented cellular radios” found inside inverters and batteries, and said national-level assessments had determined that they could pose a risk.

The August 20 advisory said the devices were used to power a range of US highway signs, traffic cameras, weather stations, solar-powered visitor areas and warehouses, and electric vehicle chargers.

The risks it cited included simultaneous outages and surreptitious theft of data.

The alert suggested that relevant authorities should inventory inverters across the US highway system, and use scan devices with spectrum analysis technology to detect any unexpected communications, then disable or remove any undocumented radios, and make sure their networks were properly segmented.

Separately, Washington has also raised concerns over the presence of Chinese autos on US highways, worrying that Chinese companies could collect sensitive data while testing autonomous vehicles in the United States.

In January, the Commerce Department finalized rules that will effectively bar nearly all Chinese cars and trucks from the US market by late 2026, as part of a crackdown on vehicle software and hardware from China.

• Reuters with additional input and editing by Jim Pollard

NOTE: Further text was added to this report on Sept 12, 2025.

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Jim Pollard

Jim Pollard is an Australian journalist based in Thailand since 1999. He worked for News Ltd papers in Sydney, Perth, London and Melbourne before travelling through SE Asia in the late 90s. He was a senior editor at The Nation for 17+ years.