Work has begun on the West Coast’s first solar farm. Reefton Solar Farm, a 13.5MW project on the outskirts of Reefton, is expected to bring more energy resilience to the region. The power scheme by Lightyears Solar Ltd is being installed on 20ha of land owned by farmers Kate and Danny King. Lightyears Solar Ltd says it will eventually feature 20,000 panels that track the movement of the sun across the day. The panels are designed to absorb, not reflect light; remaining glare will be mitigated by bunds and plantings. Lightyears co-founder and managing director Matt Shanks said the site establishment work had started, with the first few piles in the ground. ‘‘We’re pretty excited about this project — it’s the first solar farm project on the West Coast. ‘‘We’ve just wrapped up two smaller farms in North Canterbury. ‘‘We’ve had really good reception from the community, the council and Westpower.…