Case study: a farm shop in Buckley, Flintshire
Lesters Farm Shop: 56.7 kW, EV Chargers, £2,624 a Year Saved
Samuel runs Lesters Farm Shop in Buckley. He paid nothing to have solar and two EV chargers fitted, and the shop stayed open and trading throughout. Here is his story, and every figure from the proposal.
Figures from Lesters' proposal of 30 July 2025. Savings are illustrative, never a promise.
“It hasn't cost me a single penny to have it all installed.”
£0 up front
Our funding partner pays for the system. Not even a deposit
Fixed for 15 years
Between 16p and 23p per kWh today, depending on the site (September 2026)
NAPIT
Our installers are accredited
Our installation partners are MCS registered, and RECC and NAPIT accredited
One person to call
Dave handles the funder, the installer and the grid for you, first call to first bill
The system at a glance
What is on the Lesters roof, and what it makes
Size is counted in kW (kilowatts) and energy in kWh (kilowatt-hours), the unit your bill uses. The inverter is the box that turns the panels' power into the kind the building uses.
Who they are
A farm shop with a big bill, and a fair amount of doubt
Lesters Farm Shop is on Drury Lane in Buckley, Flintshire. Samuel is the proprietor. The shop uses 129,958 kWh of electricity a year, and it was paying about 23p per kWh for it. That is a large bill for a shop.
Samuel was sceptical at first, and says so himself. It sounded too good to be true, which is the usual reaction, and a fair one. So here is how it works. The deal is called a power purchase agreement, or PPA. Someone else pays for the panels and the fitting. You buy the power they make, at a price fixed in advance. Lesters got a 56.7 kW system, a price of 17p per kWh for the solar it uses, and two EV chargers in the same package.
Our page on how a PPA works explains who earns what, so there is no catch hiding in the small print.
The money
From about 23p to 17p, on a bill that was already large
What Lesters paid per kWh before
The grid price. The utility bill came to £29,929 a year.
What Lesters pays per kWh for the solar it uses, fixed for 15 years
Only the solar it uses is billed, by one monthly direct debit. The rest of its power still comes from its normal supplier.
Saved in a year
The utility bill falls to £19,908 and the solar costs £7,397. That is £2,624 less than before. A proposal figure, so illustrative.
Lesters started from a lower price than Crest, so it saves less on each kWh. It still saves £2,624 a year. The more you pay now, the more you save.
Lesters' price per kWh, before and after
- Lesters now pays 17p per kWh for the solar it uses
- The rest of the 23p it no longer pays on that power
From Lesters' proposal of 30 July 2025. Savings are illustrative, never promised. Your proposal works out your own.
Check my shop's eligibilityFree, no obligation, about two minutesWhat was fitted
126 panels, one inverter and two EV chargers
Our funding partner's design team chooses the kit for each site. These are the makers and models in Lesters' proposal.
126 all-black panels
Astronergy 450 W panels, which makes 56.7 kW. Bifacial means they catch light on both faces.
One SolaX 50 kW inverter
The X3 MEGA is a three-phase inverter. Three-phase is the stronger supply most businesses and farms have.
Two SolaX 22 kW EV chargers
They came with the system at no cost. Our EV offer lets the business keep 50% of what the chargers earn.
Commercial EV chargingWatch it
Lesters Farm Shop, on film
A short film from the shop in Buckley, under a minute long.
Lesters Farm Shop film, 0:58What Samuel said
Six things Samuel told us about the deal
“I'll be honest, I was a bit sceptical at first. It sounded too good to be true.”
“The team were professional, organised, and really respectful of the fact we were open and trading.”
“Customers barely noticed anything was happening.”
“It hasn't cost me a single penny to have it all installed.”
“The savings are going to be a game changer for my business.”
“I'd definitely recommend it to any business out there.”
Every figure
Lesters' proposal, line by line
These are the numbers in Lesters' proposal of 30 July 2025. They are proposal figures, so illustrative and never a promise.
| Item | Lesters' proposal |
|---|---|
| Who | Lesters Farm Shop, 76 Drury Lane, Buckley, Flintshire |
| Proposal dated | 30 July 2025 |
| System | 56.7 kW: 126 Astronergy 450 W all-black bifacial panels (they catch light on both faces) |
| Inverter | SolaX X3 MEGA 50 kW, three-phase (the stronger supply most businesses have) |
| EV chargers | Two SolaX 22 kW chargers |
| Power made each year | 47,210 kWh |
| Lesters' yearly use | 129,958 kWh |
| Share of its use that comes from solar | 33% |
| Used at the shop, and sent to the grid | 92% used at the shop, 8% exported |
| Price per kWh before | About 23p |
| Price per kWh now, for the solar it uses | 17p, fixed for the whole term |
| Utility bill before | £29,929 a year |
| Cost after solar | £19,908 on the utility bill plus £7,397 for the solar (the PPA) |
| Saving in a year | £2,624 |
| Carbon saved | About 10 tonnes a year (the funder's calculation) |
Every proposal also prints a buy-out price for each year, so you can see your way out before you sign. You can read Crest's buy-out prices on its case study. Or see a real proposal, line by line.
What Lesters teaches
What a shop, a farm or a hotel can take from Lesters
A lower starting price still saves
Lesters paid about 23p and Crest paid 37p. Lesters saves £2,624 a year on 56.7 kW. A dairy farm in North Yorkshire, paying about 53p, was proposed a saving of £14,723 a year on 74 kW. Same deal, different starting price.
A daytime load uses most of what the roof makes
At Lesters, 92% of what the roof makes is used on site and only 8% goes to the grid. The less you send back, the more of the roof you put to work.
How we size a systemYou can stay open while it goes in
Lesters stayed open and trading throughout, and so did Crest. Both customers say there was little disruption.
How a job runsChargers can be part of the deal
Where a site has a car park, two 22 kW chargers can come at no cost, subject to survey. Lesters has them in its proposal.
Commercial EV chargingWhat a site like Lesters' needs
Could your site do the same?
Shops, farm shops, hotels, offices and farms all use power in the day, which is what this suits. See the page for hotels, retail and hospitality or the page for farms. The site must not have existing solar.
A three-phase supply
The single-phase supply of a typical house caps a system at about 15 to 17 kW. That is below the 20 kW we need.
About three-phaseRoom for 20 kW or more
That is about 45 to 50 panels on a roof or on land. Lesters' 56.7 kW took 126 smaller panels.
Do you qualify?A year of usage data
Half-hourly smart-meter readings are best. Otherwise 12 months of bills in kWh will do. Lesters used 129,958 kWh.
About half-hourly dataThe owner's agreement, if you rent
The building owner has to agree to panels on the roof. It helps them too, because the EPC rating can go up.
About EPC B and 2031Keep reading
Another case study, and where to go next
Lesters is a business paying a commercial rate. Crest is a charity. Both are real, and both stayed open while the work was done.
Crest Community Centre, Llandudno Junction
50 kWp, 81 panels. From 37p down to 18p per kWh, and £4,739 saved in year one.
Read the Crest case study
Hotels, retail and hospitality
Shops, hotels and other trading sites with a daytime load. Find out how a PPA fits a site that stays open.
Find out more
Commercial EV charging
Two 22 kW chargers at no cost where you have a car park, subject to survey. You keep 50% of the revenue.
Find out moreWhere we work
Commercial solar near Buckley
Lesters is in Flintshire. We are based in Colwyn Bay and work across North Wales and the borders, so these are the places closest to it.
Find out in two minutes if your site qualifies
Tell us about your site, or ask us to call you. Your proposal comes back in up to 5 working days, worked out from your own bills.