A "community scale solar farm" has been lit up in North Canterbury. Auckland-based firm, Lightyears Ltd, has commissioned the 8ha solar farm on Tram Rd in Swannanoa, near Rangiora. It will produce around 5MW - enough to power 1000 homes. The project was granted a resource consent by the Waimakariri District Council last year. ‘‘Our ethos is community scale solar farms,’’ Lightyears founder Matt Shanks said. ‘‘Five to 15 hectares fits in with existing communities without taking over the landscape. ‘‘That scale could work well for small towns all around New Zealand and support the resilience of local networks.’’ The power will be fed into the local MainPower energy network. Lightyears worked with MainPower on another solar farm project, a 7.3MW solar farm on a 10ha site on Thongcaster Rd at Eyrewell, near Oxford, last year. It will produce enough electricity to power 1250 homes. Lightyears has worked on several solar farm projects around the country.…