What Are the Options?

Maybe it never occurred to you at the time of purchasing or installing your solar panels that your investment needs protection from birds, particularly pigeons. Pest birds love roosting space between your roof and solar panel and can cause serious damage to the wiring and panels over time.

A build-up of bird droppings on the panels can lead to corrosion requiring panel replacement. Birds nesting, feathers and dead birds can cause damage to the wiring system resulting in heavy expenses in repairs and maintenance costs.

Today there is greater awareness of the need for solar panel bird proofing among customers; as a result, many customers request bird proofing at the time of installation.

There are multiple forms of bird deterrents that you can discuss with your service provider. Not every solution will work for you, therefore check out what is available and consider what might be the best way forward for your home and your circumstances.

Here are some of the popular ways you can employ to keep pest birds out of your solar panels to ensure they stay working well for years to come.

Bird Mesh or Netting

The thought of having mesh or netting over your roof and panels may not sound appealing, particularly from an aesthetic perspective. What a bird mesh does however is close the gap between the panels and roof to make it impossible for birds and other pests such as rats to access the space to build their nests. Mesh that is carefully rolled out along the gap and secured need not be an eyesore. Mesh is a popular choice among solar panel users for its effectiveness.

Spikes

A series of spikes fixed on the roof around the solar panels and along the roof is another way to deter birds and other pests from living on your roof and dirtying the solar panels with their feathers and droppings. The spikes are made of hard plastic in most cases and are meant to give a slight prick rather than to hurt the bird. Soon, birds in the area will realise your roof is not the best place to hang out.

Visual Deterrents

Reflective mirrors are one form of visual deterrent to keep birds from roosting on your roof. It is essential, however, that you have an adequate number of mirrors to cover the area you are trying to protect. The mirrors use sunlight to reflect the sun’s glare around the protected area effectively causing birds to flee the scene.

Scare-eyes are another type of visual deterrent that can be used. These are flat pear-shaped deterrents that are hung around the area that needs protection. The centre of the reflective pendant features a large eye painted to mimic a predator’s eye. Birds are not fond of scare-eyes and keep away from an area that has them hung. Apart from a bird deterrent, you can help keep birds away by keeping your garden clean. Because an unkempt garden attracts small animals that birds like to feed on.