How "safe" are our inverters

QrizB

Nick_Dr1 said:

Except of course if the enemy has planned ahead and fitted a secret mobile phone chip into the system (what's known as a backdoor) before you bought it.

Which, strangely enough, is what the media reports that started this thread were all about. Undocumented (not necessarily secret) mobile phone chips in as-yet-unknown models of inverter.

Reed_Richards

No mobile phone reception here so no worries.  My car now has a mobile phone chip but presumably my car's manufacturers are paying for the service.  Can you have a secret mobile chip that will work without paying a mobile phone company for the privilege?      

QrizB

Reed_Richards said:

Can you have a secret mobile chip that will work without paying a mobile phone company for the privilege?      

There are low-cost global roaming SIMs specifically intended for IOT devices that use tiny amounts of data. Something like that could work.
If this was a hostile State-owned backdoor, I'm sure the State in question could get a national carrier to issue "sleeper SIMs". And similarly the targeted State could ask thier carriers to block them.

Exiled_Tyke

Nick_Dr1 said:

Exactly! If you isolate from the internet, you are safe (you do have to unplug it in time though).

Except of course if the enemy has planned ahead and fitted a secret mobile phone chip into the system (what's known as a backdoor) before you bought it.

Exploding pager, anyone?

So there's now a business opportunity for someone to start selling inverter sized faraday cages? 

Nick_Dr1

Reed_Richards said:

No mobile phone reception here so no worries.  My car now has a mobile phone chip but presumably my car's manufacturers are paying for the service.  Can you have a secret mobile chip that will work without paying a mobile phone company for the privilege?      

Yes. You can also build your own mobile phone network if you really want to. Or clone the real one nearby to intercept messages

QrizB

My Sofar ME3000SP has stopped working. A warning from shady World Powers to stop discussing the potential for inverters to be remotely bricked? A software glitch? Blown fuse? Loose connection? Who knows!

(Hopefully I'll know later once I've taken a closer look.)

Edit to add: it's working again. Don't think I can take any credit for it, I'm just glad it's functioning!

nologo

hi QrizB... was it dark when your inverter stopped working, ?mine does that dunno why 🙂

QrizB

QrizB said:

My Sofar ME3000SP has stopped working. ...

Edit to add: it's working again.

The problem recurred today.

Some slightly more rigorous fault-finding identified that my DC breaker has a 40V forward voltage drop, which is sub-optimal ... I've ordered a replacement.

So no, it's not nefarious State Actors trying to destabilise the distribution network or Big Octo attempting to increase my energy bills; no, it's cheap switchgear going phut 😄