Real Farmer, Real Results — Honest KMM Solar Review (UK Case Study)

The most-watched farm review on the channel

When KMM films a farm customer review on commissioning day, the customer usually says one of three things: "it's quieter than I expected", "the install was tidier than I expected", or "the numbers are better than I expected". The customer in this video said all three.

The farm and the install

A Lincolnshire arable farm with a 1980s grain store, a 2010 livestock shed and a 0.8-hectare paddock currently used as overflow for sheep grazing in winter. Pre-install annual electricity spend: £41,600 on a 30p/kWh commercial tariff. Diesel spend on grain drying and irrigation: roughly £14,000/year. Combined energy bill: just under £56k/year — and rising.

The KMM design

• Roof PV: 110 kWp across the grain store and livestock shed roofs (both south-facing)
• Ground-mount PV: 45 kWp in the paddock — sheep continue grazing underneath
• Battery: 45 kWh commercial LFP (BYD Battery-Box Premium)
• Grid: G99 with G100 export limitation to 80 kVA — cleared in 11 weeks with NGED
• Lincolnshire Rural Business Grant: £24,000 awarded toward the ground-mount and battery

The numbers the farmer cared about

What surprised him

Three things, in the customer's own words: "(1) The drone survey was the best survey we've ever had — proper engineering numbers, not a guess. (2) The grant application was done for me — I just signed it. (3) The diesel saving on the grain dryer wasn't even modelled at quote stage — the battery just made it happen by accident."

The diesel-displacement bonus

This is the bit KMM didn't model at quote stage but the customer is now telling other farmers about. The grain dryer runs heavily August-October for 8-12 hours a day during harvest. With 45 kWh of battery, KMM can charge the battery overnight at 7.5p (commercial Octopus Cosy equivalent) and discharge it through the morning grain-drying cycle — displacing roughly 1,300 litres of red diesel a year. At current red diesel prices, that's around £3,200/year not modelled at quote.

What this tells other farmers

If you're an arable farmer with a grain dryer, a livestock shed with continuous ventilation, or an irrigation operation, your solar economics are probably significantly better than a brochure model suggests. The diesel displacement and the daytime-load matching aren't always modelled by installers because they require a battery being sized to the displacement opportunity rather than to the solar generation. Always ask.

For the broader farm playbook see our farm solar page, or the Lincolnshire Rural Business Grant guide if you're in the county. To book your own survey, request a commercial proposal.