Solar Power in the UK - Planning for a Sustainable Future

8f06ff10-1346-4863-91e6-63013661bed7

Active

ESRC
ESRC
ESRC
ESRC
ESRC

£3,072,265

May 31, 2023

Nov. 30, 2025

The key aim of this project is to further understanding of factors influencing the outcomes of planning applications for ground-mounted solar photovoltaics (pv) farms at a local authority level. This will be done through qualitative interviewing, surveys, ethnographic analysis and statistical analysis of GIS data and data from planning reports. A particular focus will be analysis of the role of narratives in shaping the outcomes of solar planning applications with other approaches being used to supplement knowledge so that a comprehensive toolbox for analysis of solar planning outcomes can be developed.
This is a vitally important topic given the importance of deployment of solar pv to the UK's net zero by 2050 target and the balancing of differing sustainable development objectives including local acceptance of renewable energy developments. It is also curcial since this represents an important possibility to advance the theory of the role of narratives in environmental and planning outcomes, and exploring how values amongst those involved in planning interact with the wider community and their relationships with the landscape. This is an area of planning policy that is underdeveloped in a systematic way, and this proposal presents a comprehensive means of doing this utilising an interdisciplinary set of tools including political science, anthropology and Geography. The local planning politics of solar pv is relatively under-researched, and there is a relative lack of understanding of the interaction between locally held beliefs about solar pv, place identities, local relationships with landscapes and the narrative strategies of interest groups seeking to influence local public opinion.
Hypotheses to be tested are; that stakeholder narratives involving emphasis of 'hero' actors are more effective in influencing people than emphasising 'villains'; that stakeholder strategies are stable throughout planning debates; planning outcomes and the views of local people as measured by relative support for pro- or anti- solar farms narratives show a significant association with narrative strategies by stakeholders; Planning outcomes are significantly more associated with local peoples support for different stakeholder narrative strategies than about their expressions of place identity.

Methods will include: 1. Analysis of two recent solar pv planning application cases (one granted, one refused) in order to study differences in stakeholder narrative strategies and also responses to them by selected panel members 2. Surveys and research into a current planning case with a survey at the start and the end of a consultation, this time surveying 1000 local people as well as their response to stakeholder narratives. 3. interviews with a range of relevant actors and 4. ethnographic participant observation work. Analysis of GIS data will inform the selection of case studies and analysis of the results.
The analysis of stakeholder narratives and the responses by local people to surveys will be supplemented by ethnographic studies of the participants in two ongoing solar pv planning cases. Participant observation will include shared walks in the landscape with community members and landowners, attendance at meetings and consultation events, engagement with solar pv developers, and online ethnography.
This research will be placed in the context of a wider study of l00 solar pv planning cases in order to examine non-narrative factors that can be measured, and which how they are associated with differing planning outcomes. These factors include geographical and demographic factors as well as the responses of planning officers, different statutory agencies and NGOs to planning consultations. GIS techniques will be used to identify potential planning cases for study and also in analysis of the 100 cases.