The BRICS 2026 New Delhi Declaration places renewable energy alongside energy security, resilient supply chains and technology cooperation. Here’s what it could mean for India’s solar, power electronics and clean-energy ecosystem.
The conversation around renewable energy is changing.
For years, the primary measure of progress was capacity: how many gigawatts of solar were installed, how quickly renewable energy could be deployed and how much fossil-fuel generation it could replace.
At the 18th BRICS Summit in New Delhi, the discussion went further. The New Delhi Declaration placed energy security, resilient supply chains, technology cooperation, industrial capability, smart grids and energy storage alongside the expansion of renewable energy.
For countries such as India, this raises an important question: as renewable-energy deployment accelerates, how much of the technology powering that transition should also be designed, developed and manufactured domestically?
The declaration recognises energy security as fundamental to economic development and national security. It calls for diversified energy sources, stronger value chains and resilient critical energy infrastructure.
At the same time, BRICS countries reaffirmed the importance of a just and inclusive energy transition, while recognising renewable energy, energy storage, hydrogen, hydropower, nuclear and other technologies as part of diversified national energy strategies.
This reflects an important shift in how energy security is understood.
A country's energy system is not dependent only on the availability of electricity or fuel. Increasingly, it also depends on the technologies that generate, convert, store, control and manage that energy.
Solar modules are one part of this ecosystem. Inverters, power semiconductors, energy-storage systems, charging infrastructure, grid-control equipment, software and communication platforms are equally important.
As renewable penetration increases, these technologies become part of critical energy infrastructure.
One of the most notable outcomes of the summit was the recognition of the BRICS Photovoltaic Industry Working Group and support for developing a BRICS Solar Photovoltaic Cooperation Roadmap.
The proposed roadmap is expected to identify priority areas for technology cooperation, financing and capacity building across BRICS economies.
This is significant because the next stage of solar growth cannot be measured only through installed capacity.
The industry also needs stronger technology development, manufacturing capabilities, skilled engineering, reliable supply chains and products designed for the operating environments in which they will actually be deployed.
For India, which is rapidly expanding its solar manufacturing ecosystem, the opportunity is to move progressively deeper into the solar value chain.
Domestic manufacturing is important, but manufacturing alone does not necessarily create technological self-reliance.
A deeper capability comes from developing the underlying technology: product architecture, power electronics, firmware, controls, thermal engineering, grid integration and the ability to continuously improve products as grid requirements evolve.
This distinction will become increasingly important for renewable-energy equipment.
India's operating environment presents its own engineering challenges, including high ambient temperatures, voltage fluctuations, dust, grid variability and different installation conditions across the country.
Technology designed around these realities can improve reliability while also building domestic engineering capability.
At Zenergize, this principle is central to how we approach power electronics. Our solar inverter and EV charging platforms are developed with a focus on Indian operating conditions while using advanced semiconductor technologies such as Silicon Carbide to achieve higher efficiency, thermal performance and reliability.
BRICS also highlighted digitalisation as an increasingly important part of modern energy systems.
The declaration specifically recognises the potential of artificial intelligence and advanced data analytics in system planning, grid management, renewable integration, operational efficiency and cyber-resilient energy infrastructure.
It also welcomed the BRICS Guiding Principles on Smart Grids and Energy Storage and India's initiative for a BRICS Digital Centre of Excellence for Smart Grids and Energy Storage.
This matters because renewable energy is changing the nature of the electricity grid.
As millions of distributed solar systems, batteries, EV chargers and other energy assets connect to the network, power electronics and software increasingly become the interface between energy generation, consumption and the grid.
The inverter of the future will therefore do much more than convert DC electricity into AC electricity. It will increasingly participate in monitoring, communication, grid support and intelligent energy management.
The declaration also places considerable emphasis on resilient value chains, industrialisation and greater participation by emerging economies in higher-value manufacturing.
This is particularly relevant to clean-energy technologies.
The global energy transition will require enormous quantities of semiconductors, critical minerals, batteries, power-electronic components and electrical equipment. Concentration of these capabilities within a small number of supply chains creates strategic and operational risks.
Building resilience does not mean eliminating global cooperation. In fact, BRICS explicitly calls for technology cooperation and knowledge exchange.
The opportunity is to combine global technology partnerships with stronger domestic engineering, manufacturing and intellectual capability.
India is already one of the world's fastest-growing renewable-energy markets. The next opportunity is to ensure that increasing deployment is accompanied by increasing technological capability.
That means moving progressively from importing complete technology platforms toward designing and engineering more of the systems deployed across the country's energy infrastructure.
It means developing stronger capabilities in power electronics, semiconductors, firmware, energy storage, grid technologies and intelligent energy management.
And it means building products that are designed for India's grid and climate while being capable of competing globally.
The BRICS New Delhi Declaration does not prescribe how individual countries should achieve this. But its emphasis on energy security, resilient value chains, industrialisation, technology cooperation, smart grids and photovoltaic industry development points toward a broader evolution of the energy transition.
For India, the next phase of renewable energy can therefore be about more than deploying clean energy, but also about building the technology that makes clean energy possible.
Written by
Armaan Garg
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