Our Story

Where it all Started

In 2017, Mathew Lowry walked out onto his 400-hectare farm between Waikawau and Awakino to start his petrol-fuelled water pump. Sounds simple, right? Wrong! Nothing happened — it had broken down once again just after being serviced.

“I went home and over a hot cuppa, I thought to myself: ‘there must be a better way to pump water around my farm at a low cost,’” Mathew says. I was using diesel and petrol pumps and they just weren’t working for me. They kept breaking down.”

Mathew then began investigating solar options and while the price for a New Zealand set-up was expensive, he dived in. He found a solar water pump he liked the look of, installed it and a year later it was still running smoothly without even requiring a service.

He says: “At the time I installed it, I didn’t think I’d start up a company, but because it worked so well, I thought this was a great opportunity. Electric motors are reliable. The saving in not paying for petrol or diesel, well, the solar pumps pay themselves off in two or three years.”

Happy with his new solar solution, Mathew could see how he could now help others who were in similar situations to himself. In August 2019, he started his business, Agri Solar Ltd with a goal to sell and install affordable solar pumps.

“I looked at other companies and I could not afford their setups. There was a gap in the market for an affordable option,” Mathew says. I’ve worked with a sourcing company in Australia which has sourced the best manufacturer of solar pumps we could find.”

The business is based on Mathew’s land which he leases from his mother. It is part of an 1800ha family sheep and beef farm. Family members have other farms nearby which has provided Mathew with a good early opportunity to test his pumps. Another local farmer has had one of the Mastra pumps installed and the feedback has been good. But the pumps are not only to quench livestock. Mathew says they will also work for horticulture systems and off-grid homes. 

Mathew took over Waipukurau’s Red Snap’r which sells solar electric fence units.

Mathew says: “We use solar energisers on our farm, and I thought it was something which would tie in really well with the pumps. The benefit is if you don’t have power out the back of your farm, you can install a solar one. I’m just adding the panel and batteries to them.”

Mathew is happy to answer questions and will travel the North Island doing installations so contact him today and say goodbye to your water pump issues.