China might produce the most panels at volume but this isn't a hardline monopoly like being able to cut off oil pipelines. We can produce panels ourselves if we _need_ to (as a coalition of friendly countries), it will of course be more expensive, but expensive is better than not possible.

Also, the more panels we already have, the less reliant we are. Energy doesn't stop flowing because deliveries of new panels stop during a conflict. You just pause expansion. A very different scenario to fuel reserves running dry in weeks.

Unlike the oil dependency system, where there's actual scarcity of the thing you need (oil), there's nothing special about building solar panels that locks you to China. Basically any country could build it, but they need to figure out how to build stuff in general (as opposed to outsourcing like the last three decades)

Hard to call it influence when the panels, once installed, just work and slowly degrade over the course of years.

There are more immediate ways for China to influence Europe.

Meanwhile the recent oil debacle showed how fragile a system it is to have fossil fuels shipped across the planet.

Really ? One doesnt needs China to produce electricity once its installed.

You don't buy anything else from China? You're sure none of the oil drills or gas turbines in your country are from there?

Is buying the means to produce energy from China worse than buying energy directly from Russia?

This is indeed the risk.