Bird Mesh Protection for solar PV panels

If you need to add bird mesh protection to your existing solar PV panels please contact us.

Do you want to stop the noise and mess that birds make under the panels and to stop them nesting there, especially pigeons, it can cause damage to the cables as well.

To protect your investment you can add a mesh around the panels to stop them getting underneath the panels.

Solar panels

Not surprisingly for one of the sunniest and driest parts of England, there is a major focus on solar energy in the South East region, which is at the cutting edge of improving the technology and reducing carbon footprint going forward.
Surrey University is working on developing a new form of combined solar power generation and storage based on a  that can be readily fitted to cover roofs of commercial units, with the company behind it, Solivus, working on producing solar ‘arcs’ for homes.

In West Sussex a company called Naked Energy is right at the cutting edge of a newwith improved efficiency over conventional solar panel systems. Generating both electricity and heat, the company says that its Virtu solar system needs 50% less rooftop space to generate the same financial savings as conventional panels, and 300% less to match the carbon savings.

In Kent, recycling centres in Tunbridge Wells and Sittingbourne have been earmarked for   which could produce up to six million watts (6MWH), as well as reduce Kent County Council's CO2 emission levels by 1,624 tonnes. The county is also notable for planning the   on the 890 acre Cleve Hill development. It would see solar panels the height of double decker buses erected across an area in Graveney the size of 700 football pitches, although at the time of writing there is opposition.

And across the whole of the South East region, many thousands of businesses and homes in inland areas like Canterbury, Chichester, Crawley, Tonbridge and Maidstone, and coastal locations like Brighton, Southampton, Portsmouth, Eastbourne, Margate, Dover and Folkestone are all benefiting from the energy savings.

Solar energy will play a vital role going forward in terms of reducing our carbon footprint across the SE England region, but with them comes a problem with birds nesting under solar panels.

Feral pigeons need cover over their heads when nesting, and solar panels provide them with the perfect combination of warmth, shelter and relative safety for their young. Pigeons also nest all year round, having several broods per year, so their numbers can increase much more quickly than most other birds and they quickly become a pest.

As well as creating a great deal of noise, they also produce a huge amount of fouling. It’s estimated that one pigeon will produce up to  – that means a flock of just 20 birds can be churning out 220kg per year – that’s 480lb – or about half the weight of a grand piano!
But it’s not just the amount of mess and noise. Pigeon fouling is really very dangerous stuff .

It is a vector for some really nasty pathogens and bacteria that can cause very serious illness indeed in humans – even blindness and death – if accidentally breathed in dry, if it gets into cuts or is accidentally ingested. As such you need to get the pigeons off your property as quickly as you can, and clearance of fouling should only be attempted by someone who knows what they are doing and wearing the appropriate PPE. 

Our solar panel pigeon proofing service covers all South East England. We use a very solid galvanised steel mesh which is far superior to roll mesh. The mesh comes in sheets, not rolls, with a thick gauge of wire that requires industrial cutters to cut it to size. As such it enables our technicians to shape the mesh not just to your panel configuration, but also to the rides of your roof tiles if they deem it necessary to stop birds getting back under solar panels.

The work involves an experienced two-man team with all the expertise, training and equipment in place to undertake work like this. The first part of the job is to get the birds out from under the solar panels. This can be straightforward or very difficult, but we do not remove the panels from the bars as that would invalidate your warranty with your solar panel company, as indeed would any drilling to fit the proofing. We have all the licences in place to be able to do this within the law.

The teams remove as much of the nesting materials under the panels as they can without risking the performance of the panels, before applying a professional strength biocide around where any nesting has been going on. This is done firstly to treat any fouling that has got onto the fittings, as pigeon guano is also high in uric acid and corrosive over time. It’s also to try and deal with the bird mites that will be in the nests. Bird mites are tiny little biting insects that feed on the blood of chicks in nests, but they commonly get inside properties and start feeding on human blood. They live in cavities, drive you mad, are difficult to get rid of and indeed are a very good reason to stop birds nesting under your solar panels per se.