PhD in Floating PV powered green hydrogen for heat decarbonzation at the south west of UK

About the Project

Project details:

The Southwest of the UK, particularly Cornwall, possesses some of the nation's strongest renewable energy resources, yet continues to face significant challenges in decarbonising heat especially in rural, off-gas communities reliant on oil, LPG, and inefficient electric systems. While electrification remains a key pathway, limited grid capacity across the region poses a major barrier to widespread adoption. Floating photovoltaics (FPV) offer a promising, land-efficient solution by enabling solar deployment on reservoirs and other water bodies, reducing evaporation, and enhancing panel efficiency through water-based cooling. When integrated with electrolysers, FPV can support on-site green hydrogen production—a flexible, storable energy carrier suitable for decarbonising heat, industry, and district energy systems. 

This research takes a cross-disciplinary approach to explore the techno-economic, spatial, legal, and social dimensions of FPV-powered hydrogen in the Southwest. Geospatial and engineering analyses will identify optimal sites and system configurations, while collaboration with the Law School will assess legal and regulatory frameworks, planning constraints, and opportunities to embed principles of climate justice. Particular attention will be given to ensuring that deployment strategies align with community needs, support rural resilience, and promote equitable access to clean energy. By linking technical innovation with legal reform and social inclusion, this project aims to develop a regionally tailored strategy for sustainable, just energy transition. 

The key objectives are:

Objective 1: Identify optimal FPV sites in Cornwall and the South-West using GIS and multicriteria analysis to maximise green hydrogen potential, while evaluating legal frameworks to propose permitting reforms and ensure environmental and community benefits. (Years 1–2). Objective 2: Optimize FPV system designs for electricity yield, module cooling, operational stability, using hydrodynamic to support FPV and hydrogen-ready power generation (Year 2). Objective 3: Integrate electrolysers with storage and heat pathways to enable decarbonized heating solutions including hydrogen boilers and assess the techno-economic performance and LCOH compared to alternatives, accounting for FPV and hydrogen co-benefits (Year 2.5 – 3.5). 

Year1: Regional site optimization with climate justice Task 1.1: Using GIS to identify optimal sites for floating photovoltaic (FPV) deployment in Cornwall and the Southwest. Task 1.2: This study will conduct a comprehensive environmental justice review of candidate FPV deployment sites identified in Task 1.1. 

Year 2: FPV design for hydrogen-focused generation Task 2.1: Optimised FPV designs will vary tilt, spacing, albedo, and module type, incorporating hydrodynamic modelling to assess anchoring stability, water-level changes, and impacts on energy yield and reliability, in collaboration with Zneco. 

Year 3 till submission: Electrolyser Integration with Hydrogen Storage Options and Heat Decarbonisation Pathways Task 3.1: This task will assess electrolyser performance under variable PV and heat demand using hourly data, optimizing sizing and dispatch with HOMER Pro, and evaluating impacts on efficiency, degradation, and lifetime cost, validated by James Cropper prototype data. Task 3.2: This task will evaluate the techno-economic suitability of hydrogen storage options for integration into regional heat pathways, including hydrogen boilers, hybrid heat pumps, fuel-cell CHP, and gas blending. 

Please direct project specific enquiries to: Dr Aritra Ghosh (a.ghosh@exeter.ac.uk) Please ensure you read the entry requirements for the potential programme you are applying for. To Apply for this project please click the 'Apply' button  

Funding Comment 

Payment of tuition fees (Home), Research Training Support Grant £5,000 over 3.5 years 

Location

University of Exeter, Science and Engineering Research Support Facility, Penryn campus

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