Lightyears Solar

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Lightyears Solar

Lightyears is a solar farm development and management firm, specialising in developing high quality, community-scale solar PV farms across New Zealand.

25/05/2026

A major milestone for the West Coast and New Zealand’s renewable energy future.

Construction is now underway on our 13.5 MW Reefton Solar Farm - Lightyears’ largest solar project to date and a significant investment in regional energy resilience and economic growth.

Reefton has a proud history as the first town in New Zealand to receive a public electricity supply, and it’s fitting that the region is once again helping lead the country into a new energy era.

This project is about more than solar generation. It’s about strengthening electricity security for West Coast communities and businesses, supporting future electrification, and creating long-term regional opportunities.

Strong partnerships are central to making projects like this possible. We’re proud to be working again with Tier 1 supplier JA Solar, which is providing nearly 21,000 high-performance solar modules for the site and Meridian Energy, which is purchasing the output from the farm via a power purchase agreement, helping ensure the renewable energy generated at Reefton supports New Zealand’s transition to a more resilient, lower-emissions electricity system.

Experienced contractors New Energy are currently hard on the mechanical installation, with piles going into the ground before modules go up.

The West Coast has enormous potential for community-scale renewable energy, and this is just the beginning. Exciting to see momentum building for regional renewable infrastructure that delivers both environmental and economic benefits.

Event photos 📷 by Jase Blair/Katabatic

14/05/2026

Another seat has been filled at Lightyears, with experienced project manager Derek Ernest joining the team. Derek will oversee the construction at our growing list of solar farm projects, working closely with contractors and stakeholders as we bring more distributed renewable generation to Aotearoa.
Read his full bio at https://www.lightyearssolar.co.nz/meet-the-lightyears-solar-team

23/04/2026

Welcome to our two new Lightyears team members, Jin Yong (Julian) Lee and Debra Mei. Julian brings deep experience in corporate, commercial and project development across Asia Pacific and Europe and a passion for environmental law to his role as Corporate Counsel, while Debra is our new Financial Accountant, and has more than a decade of experience in financial management, auditing, and client support and is a Chartered Accountant.

We’re delighted to have you both on the team.

Read all our team bios at https://www.lightyearssolar.co.nz/meet-the-lightyears-solar-team

18/03/2026

As more of our solar farms begin generating power, our operations and maintenance team kicks into high gear to keep them running smoothly.

We are really pleased to welcome Joseph Griffiths to the team as our new Solar Operations and Maintenance Assistant. Most of Joseph’s role will be on site at our solar farms: preventative maintenance, repairs and tuning, plant control, and anything involved in keeping our sites running safely and efficiently.

Joseph has a background in background in plant genetics, farming and engineering, and you can read his full bio on our website: https://www.lightyearssolar.co.nz/meet-the-lightyears-solar-team

30/01/2026

Sometimes it’s the little things in life and while these soil testing tools are small, their impact is big, and they play a key part in preparing a site for solar farm construction.

Two of our team travelled to Reefton on the west coast of the South Island this week to do soil resistivity testing at a future solar farm construction site. This testing determines the ground's ability to resist or conduct electrical current and is essential for designing safe and efficient grounding systems. Soil resistivity is tested at multiple depths, to create a soil model for optimising grounding grids, reducing equipment damage risks, and ensuring proper insulation.

We’re looking forward to sharing progress at the site as it takes shape and gets connected to the local network, bringing more renewable energy to the community.

20/01/2026

Christmas might have come and gone but we're still getting exciting parcels, and for us, that means boxes full of solar farm supplies for the project we're just starting in Canterbury, on behalf of MainPower.

We're the lead contractor for the project, and the site will transform over the next few months into a 7.3 MW solar farm, adding to the renewable energy mix in North Canterbury.

19/01/2026

We’ve had the privilege of partnering with Invest New Zealand for the last three years, who have provided invaluable support as we raise capital to grow our company and invest in a solar powered future for New Zealand.

We’re delighted to confirm a new round of investment to accelerate our growth and bring community-scale solar to more of Aotearoa.

Read more here: https://www.nzte.govt.nz/blog/new-investment-confirmed-for-lightyears-solar

15/01/2026

We are hiring!

Come and join us as we bring solar power to more communities around the country. We’re seeking a Solar Operations and Maintenance Assistant to provide operational support to keep our solar farms running smoothly.

This is a newly created role with lots of variety and potential. You’ll be based in our Auckland office but travelling a lot to our solar farms across New Zealand.

Find the job on Seek: https://www.seek.co.nz/job/89666536?ref=search-standalone&type=promoted&origin=jobTitle =ab2dc44cde0c807baa3f5bf2d695c9676e9df0b5

12/01/2026

Welcome to 2026! It might be a bit late to officially say happy new year, but regardless, we’re pleased to be back in the swing of things and working on bringing more solar to local communities around Aotearoa.

Our head office is nearly full again and the construction team is also hard at work on two sites in Canterbury. One of these is a new project, with Lightyears the lead EPC contractor for a 7.3 MW solar farm for MainPower, and the other is our owned and operated 5 MW solar farm at Waimakariri, which is nearing the finish line.

We’re looking forward to sharing more of our progress over the year!

21/12/2025

Yesterday marked the official summer solstice for Aotearoa, which is the longest day of the year. This means lots of sunshine hours, and lots of renewable energy being sent into local power networks from our solar farms.

It's a good note to end our year on, and tomorrow afternoon our office will close the doors for 2025, reopening on Monday 5 January. Our construction teams will also be back then too, working hard on site.

We’d like to wish everyone a safe and happy holiday and a great start to 2026.

Address

Eden Terrace
Auckland
1021

Website

http://www.lightyearssolar.co.nz/

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