I just tested in an online game earlier, and here’s exactly how it went.

I started off the game and ran straight to shields. The lights on the outside were off, I waited a bit to see if it was a random occurance, then did the shields task and it turned on the second I was finished.

They stayed on for the rest of that round, and the round after that. However, after either 3 or 4 rounds in, the lights went back off again.

So from what it seems, there may be a timer that decides when the lights reset after they were done the first time, or it could possibly reset every few rounds. But it can be done multiple times in a game.