
Lightyears solar is building solar farms in Ruawai, Waiuku and Paeroa.
Construction will soon begin on a 7500-panel solar farm which will supply power to Ruawai and Maungaturoto. Lightyears Solar director Matt Shanks hopes it will be complete by the early new year to make use of the summer sun.
The panels will track the movement of the sun throughout the day. The solar farm will be located on a 5.5-hectare block by the Wairoa River, 8km north of Ruawai.
It will feed power to the Ruawai substation and is expected to fulfil all of the town’s day time power needs. Remaining power will flow down the line to the Maungaturoto substation.
The solar farm is being built on land identified as prone to flood risk by the Kaipara District Council and therefore not suitable for crops.
Matt says that the panels are being mounted on pivots and would be unaffected by inundation from the Wairoa River.
The 3.4 megawatt solar farm is expected to produce 5.8 million kilowatt hours each year.
The project has been fully consented and is in the procurement stage.