Smart Energy for Sustainable Food: Optimising Surplus Solar Energy for UK Food Production

As the UK rapidly expands solar energy capacity while continuing to import a large proportion of its fruit and vegetables, new approaches are needed to connect renewable energy growth with domestic food production.

Increasingly, large solar parks generate periods of surplus electricity when supply exceeds demand or storage capacity.

This PhD will investigate how that surplus solar energy can be redirected into controlled environment agriculture (CEA), such as greenhouses and vertical farms, to strengthen UK food security while reducing carbon emissions.

This PhD studentship is funded by NTU and our industrial partner Elements Green, a UK renewable energy developer, providing the student with direct engagement with a live solar infrastructure project.

Using Elements Green’s proposed Great North Road Solar Park as a modelling case study, the project will explore how surplus renewable energy flows could be integrated with horticultural production. This approach will generate evidence to inform both energy–agriculture co-location strategies and policy on sustainable land use.

The study will address three central questions:

* What physical and economic patterns of surplus solar energy are expected at large-scale solar parks under UK conditions?

* How can these be matched to the demand cycles of CEA systems through smart scheduling and control?

* What are the techno-economic and environmental implications of solar–CEA integration at scale?

The objectives are to:

1/ Analyse patterns of surplus solar energy to assess potential availability for agricultural use.

2/ Characterise the energy demands of selected crops suited to UK CEA.

3/ Develop approaches for smart control and scheduling that align surplus supply with operational needs.

4/ Evaluate the technical, economic and environmental feasibility of integrated solar–CEA systems.

5/ Produce case-study insights and practical outputs, such as modelling tools and policy recommendations.

The project will deliver original insights into integrated energy–agriculture systems, grounded in a live case study with direct industry relevance.