{"id":254289,"date":"2014-11-19T10:04:28","date_gmt":"2014-11-19T10:04:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lightsourcebp.com\/news\/partnership-to-explore-solar-farms-and-agriculture\/"},"modified":"2023-07-31T10:20:37","modified_gmt":"2023-07-31T10:20:37","slug":"partnership-to-explore-solar-farms-and-agriculture","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lightsourcebp.com\/uk\/news\/partnership-to-explore-solar-farms-and-agriculture\/","title":{"rendered":"Partnership to Explore Solar Farms and Agriculture"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>
\n
<\/div>\n\n
\n
\n
\n

Partnership to Explore Solar Farms and Agriculture<\/h1>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n
<\/div>\n<\/section>\n \n\n\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n \n \n \n \n \"\"\n\n <\/picture>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n\n
\n
<\/div>\n\n \n
\n
\n
\n \n

Lightsource bp UK have joined forces with two education partners to explore the relationship between solar farms and agriculture<\/span><\/h2>\n

Education chiefs have teamed up with the UK\u2019s leading solar energy generator to spearhead an innovative new project aimed at exploring the relationship between solar farms and agriculture.<\/p>\n

Lightsource Renewable Energy Ltd, Moulton College and the School of Science and Technology of the University of Northampton have joined forces for the two year study.<\/p>\n

They are now on the lookout for a suitable post-graduate candidate to lead the research, which will evaluate solar installations as a viable diversification for farm businesses and measure the associated impacts.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

It will also create an unbiased, online toolkit that will aim to help farmers and landowners decide whether or not it is sustainable to install solar power.<\/p>\n

Dr James Littlemore, senior lecturer in land and environmental management at Moulton College, said: \u201cWith farmers and landowners being advised to incorporate energy efficiency into their primary agri-business aims, the need to diversify and include on-farm renewables remains paramount. <\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cIndeed, farm-based solar energy generation in the form of photovoltaic (PV) installations on rooftops or at a field \u2018solar farm\u2019 scale have become increasingly popular. <\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cYet there is a lack of information for landowners on how to evaluate solar installations as a farm diversification venture and to better understand the associated impact on the rural business. We hope this study will redress that imbalance.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

The full time Master of Philosophy project is ideally suited to someone with a keen interest in agriculture, farm-scale renewable energy and land management.<\/p>\n

It will involve the use of Moulton College\u2019s own facilities including a 550 ha mixed farm, supervision from both the college and the university, as well as working directly with staff from Lightsource, the UK\u2019s leading solar energy generator.<\/p>\n

Conor McGuigan, director of development for Lightsource, said: \u201cWe have found there to be a real lack of credible information for rural businesses wishing to explore diversification with solar power.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cDemonstrating our commitment to rural communities, we believe that by teaming up with Moulton College and the University of Northampton, that we can create a much needed independent and scientifically-based resource that will provide a sound foundation of information. We hope it will demonstrate that solar power can be a viable and trusted source of sustainable income – the perfect partner for growing business and even succession planning.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

The project – fully funded by the Elizabeth Creak Charitable Trust and Lightsource – is open to those who have, or expect to receive, a first or upper-second class honours degree, or equivalent or an MSc\/MRes in a relevant discipline. The minimum English language proficiency requirement for candidates who have not taken a higher degree at a UK HE institution is an IELTS score of at least 6.5.<\/p>\n

Applications open on December 11 and the deadline is January 24 next year.<\/p>\n

For more information on the project contact Dr Littlemore at james.littlemore@moulton.ac.uk<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n <\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n

<\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n\n
\n
<\/div>\n\n
\n
\n
\n

News <\/h3>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n
\n
\n
\n \n \"\"<\/picture>\n <\/a>\n <\/div>\n

23 Jul, 2026<\/p>\n \n

Lightsource bp and Meta expand partnership with new power purchase agreement for\u00a0Mowata\u00a0Solar in Louisiana<\/h5>\n <\/a>\n

Lightsource bp and Meta have finalized a long-term power purchase agreement (PPA) to support \u200bMowata Solar, a 172MWdc (150MWac) solar project in development in Acadia Parish.<\/p>\n

Read Story <\/svg><\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n \n \"\"<\/picture>\n <\/a>\n <\/div>\n

03 Jul, 2026<\/p>\n \n

15 years of solar \u2013 from first-of-a kind to critical infrastructure<\/h5>\n <\/a>\n

Last week marked 15 years since the UK\u2019s first utility-scale solar farm began generating electricity.<\/p>\n

Read Story <\/svg><\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n \n \"\"<\/picture>\n <\/a>\n <\/div>\n

26 Jun, 2026<\/p>\n \n

Lightsource bp publishes\u00a02025\u00a0Sustainability Report\u00a0<\/h5>\n <\/a>\n

Lightsource bp's annual Sustainability Report outlines the work we do to support a future powered by renewable, affordable and reliable energy. <\/p>\n

Read Story <\/svg><\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n

<\/div>\n<\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":50,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[837,845],"tags":[],"filter_by":[844],"filter_tags":[],"class_list":["post-254289","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorised-uk","category-corporate-en-ie-uk","filter_by-news-uk"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lightsourcebp.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/254289","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lightsourcebp.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lightsourcebp.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lightsourcebp.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/50"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lightsourcebp.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=254289"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/lightsourcebp.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/254289\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":302958,"href":"https:\/\/lightsourcebp.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/254289\/revisions\/302958"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lightsourcebp.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=254289"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lightsourcebp.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=254289"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lightsourcebp.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=254289"},{"taxonomy":"filter_by","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lightsourcebp.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/filter_by?post=254289"},{"taxonomy":"filter_tags","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lightsourcebp.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/filter_tags?post=254289"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}