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Meet our Team

Ella Te Huia-Phillips | Director

Descendent from Ngati Rangi – born in Ohakune. Ella isn’t one to shy away from a challenge. Made redundant during the Covid-19 pandemic, Ella decided to make a fresh start in Northland. When life threw her a challenge, redundancy in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, Ella took it as an opportunity and put her 15 years’ experience in the solar industry to use by launching Solartive, a solar power solutions provider based in Whangārei and Mangōnui. Seeing the need for solar power in rural Te Tai Tokerau/Northland communities, and the challenges individuals faced when trying to set up solar themselves without access to the latest technology, Ella strives to make solar power more accessible and affordable across the region.

As a talented musician, she’s in a local Whangārei band playing keyboard and percussion.  She also enjoys a few rounds of golf, swimming and getting out and about with her huntaway dog, Suzie; the real boss.

Mel Turdeich | General Manager

Of Ngāpuhi descent, born and bred in Te Tai Tokerau, Mel joined Solartive in April 2021 and brought with her two decades of experience supporting, establishing and running high performing teams. Mel understands the importance of a solid strategic foundation. She has the engagement and communication skills to lead our business and develop strategies to bring our service expectations and standards to life. When Mel isn't at Solartive, you'll find her at the netball courts, at home with her whānau and moko or enjoying a strong black coffee.

Dan Fahrion | Head Electrician

Meet Dan, our Head Electrician. The one person in our team that all of our customers are likely to meet. He leads our dedicated installation team with 28yrs experience as an Electrician. Hailing from Germany, Dan has lived in five different countries, making the wise move to New Zealand 16yrs ago. It's just a coincidence, we carry German solar equipment. He's currently married to his job but when he's taking some time out he enjoys playing golf, disc golf and squash and watching football with a cold beverage.

Tamati Kingi | BDM

Of Ngati Kahu descent, Tamati joins Solartive as the Sales Manager bringing his logistics, operational, sales and energy efficiency experience to the team. When he's not out in the community promoting our business and keeping the office girls busy with admin tasks, you'll find him juggling his time between his many passions - being out on the water enjoying what Northland has to offer, spending time with whānau, supporting a couple of local footy teams, enjoying live music and local food.

Ariki Hohepa | Electrical Apprentice

Ariki is our most experienced Electrical Apprentice and enjoys busy days. With a young family, Ariki spends his days off work on Dad duties and enjoying time with his dogs.

Karen Port | Solar Sales Consultant

Born in Christchurch, but living in Whangārei for the past 21 years, Karen is definitely a local. Joining our team at the start of 2024, Karen brings her extensive experience in customer service and sales to help create a needs based customer solar solution for our customers. When she's not on the phone or emailing customers, she enjoys travelling and camping in her motorhome, taking her dogs and grandchildren to the beach, gardening, reading and playing cards with her friends.

Tash Sanders | Navigator

Tash comes with a positive attitude, bubbly and friendly and compliments our team nicely. After returning to Whangarei from Hamilton, she is keen to actively contribute to our community and enjoys making calls to local businesses and schools to help them understand the benefits of solar energy. When she's not at work, she enjoys spending time with her partner and daughter enjoying all of Northland's beauty and retail sector. Come and meet our team here at Solartive and save on your power bills.

Nick Haydock | Sales Admin Support

Joining us in October 2023, Nick is the newest member to the Solartive whānau. He has a family of 3 that's a tight knit unit who are proud to be Northlanders who can help other Northlanders gain the benefit of being self sufficient with their energy needs. His passions include his family, photography and customer service.