Case Studies

Ashlyn's Care Home, run by B&M Care Homes, is projected to save £18,898 in its first year of operation after Spirit Energy designed and installed a 116.03 kWp rooftop solar system. The system is expected to generate 99,845 kWh a year, covering roughly 70% of the home's electricity use from its own roof. With a six-year payback period and a 19% internal rate of return, the installation aligns directly with the financial performance of Spirit Energy’s wider care home portfolio. 

Extra MSA's motorway services at Beaconsfield on the M40 saved £67,763 in the first year after installing rooftop solar, paying back the system in 4 years. The site is one of the most electricity hungry building types in the UK: the lights stay on overnight, the refrigeration runs continuously, and the fryers come up to temperature at four in the morning. Around 8 million people pull off the M40 here every year, producing a load profile closer to a small industrial site than a retail unit. 

The solution: 840 panels on a live service station

The installed system is a 382.2 kWp array of 840 AIKO 455W panels, covering approximately 1,640 m² of active cell area on the main building roof. The array faces due south at a 20 degree inclination with no measurable shading, which is close to the ideal case for a UK rooftop.

Before installation, the household's annual electricity cost sat around £4,200, calculated against current tariff rates. Left unchecked, and assuming the long-run UK average electricity inflation rate of 7.2% (based on 2000 to 2022 data), that bill was projected to climb to over £22,000 a year by year 25, with a cumulative spend north of £275,000 across the same period.

Ryeview Manor Care Home, part of the B&M Care Homes group, installed a 63.25 kWp rooftop solar system with Spirit Energy that is modelled to save around £11,479 in its first year and pay for itself in roughly eight years. The system generates an estimated 55,188 kWh of electricity annually, the large majority of which is used directly on site to power a building that runs around the clock. Over its lifetime the installation is projected to return 208% of its value, with a net present value of £186,177.

Introduction

These Reading homeowners approached Spirit Energy in early 2025 with a relatively standard pitched tile roof and an ambitious brief. The household was at the start of a full electrification programme: a Tesla Model 3 already on the drive, gas heating about to be replaced with an air source heat pump, and electricity demand on a steep upward trajectory.

The Challenge

This customer's new build in Surrey presented a straightforward brief but a genuinely complex design task. The house had a large flat roof with the capacity to support a substantial solar installation, and the household's annual electricity demand of 10,000 kWh, combined with an EV to charge, meant that a well-designed system could cover a significant proportion of that demand. The question was how to get the most generation out of the available roof space.

This customer had a well-performing solar PV system installed under the Feed-in Tariff scheme, generating around 3,000 kWh per year and delivering reliable FIT income for over a decade. With the solar side of the setup working as intended, the next step was to push further towards grid independence by storing surplus generation rather than exporting it. The property had also been experiencing semi-regular power cuts, so whole-home backup was an added priority.

We have just completed work at a vast Aylesbury estate that boasts eight distinct solar arrays, three battery systems, three heat pumps, multiple electric-vehicle charge points and a wind turbine. Originally the site already hosted seven Tesla Powerwalls; we have now added twelve expansion packs, bringing total battery capacity to a staggering 305 kWh, a figure that places it among the largest residential battery installations in the UK.

Spirit Energy Install the First Tesla Powerwall 3 in the UK. 

In September 2020, Spirit installed an EV charging station at Porter Garland’s offices in Camberley. The company had recently purchased an electric car, taking advantage of the tax benefits for businesses.

In December 2019 Spirit installed a Rolec SecuriCharge unit for Nuvola in Swallowfield.

In November 2019, Spirit finished installing a complete system for Mr L in Maidenhead - solar PV, Powerwall 2, eddi and two zappi chargers.

In October 2019, Spirit commissioned an eoMini Pro charger at a house in Thatcham.

Mr E went for the eoMini Pro to take advantage of the £500 OLEV grant for smart chargers. The unit is small and discreet, and offers full monitoring via the app (shown in the image above).

In August 2019, Spirit installed its first zappi version 2 at a house in Reading.

In June 2018, Spirit installed and commissioned 6 Dual Socket EV chargepoints at St Giles Hotel in Heathrow, London.

In 2017, a private landlord contracted Spirit to upgrade the lighting in the communal areas of their property in Bishops Court, Slough. This consisted of replacing 46 existing fittings with a range of new LED lights.

July 2017 saw Spirit carry out a 30 fitting LED lighting retrofit for a commercial property in Newbury, Berkshire. NCR Bodyshops wanted existing highbay lights in their warehouse to be replaced with new 220W LED equivalents. 

In July 2016, Meika Ltd contracted Spirit Solar Ltd to install LED lights in its office and warehouse complex in Reading, replacing 125 existing light fittings and bulbs.

The new fittings range from 600mm x 600mm panels in the office and meeting rooms to 80W LED Corn lamps and 5ft tubes in the warehouse. 

Energy use will be reduced by up to 65%, with a total annual reduction in electricity use of just under 15,000kWh. The annual savings in running costs and replacement bulb costs will be £1,765+VAT; the project has a 3 year payback.

The installation will also improve lighting quality and reduce the need for maintenance of the lights. For example the panels give 35,000 hours service, which is 20 times the expected life of the existing fittings.