5 Ways to Safeguard Your Solar Panels from Pigeons

Solar panels are a great investment in your home and in our collective future. Solar panels can reduce your home’s energy consumption, which reduces the demand for natural resources and also reduces your electric bill. Instead of relying on gas, coal, or nuclear power for your home, you can harness the rays of the sun that already shine down on your house each day.

Though solar panels offer amazing benefits, they are also a big investment. Unfortunately, they also offer a nice space between your roof and the panel surface that is ideal for pigeons to roost. If you aren’t careful, you could get pigeon feces, dead birds, nesting materials, and more on or under your solar panels, threatening the significant investment you have made. Pigeon poo and other debris that gets on the surface of the solar panels can also block the sun, inhibiting the effectiveness of the panels.

Pigeons are not only a health risk, but they threaten to damage your solar panels and your home. Here are five things you can do to protect your investment in solar panels from pigeons:

Install a Mesh Barrier

The easiest way to keep pigeons away from your solar panels is to block off the area where they want to nest. You can install a mesh barrier around the solar panels, making it impossible for the pigeons to get into that space between the panels and the roof.

Talk to a pest control expert to get the right type of mesh and to install it properly. Otherwise, you’ll labor under a false sense of confidence that your property is protected, all the while pigeons are there and damaging the space. A technician will also install it so that it doesn’t damage your roof.

Install Reflectors

Specialty reflective tape is sold specifically to deter pigeons from your rooftop or other areas where they might like to rest or nest, leaving behind a trail of mess. The tape reflects the sun in multiple directions, creating a sense of chaos for the birds and making them look elsewhere for a spot to rest.

You can put the tape down in addition to the mesh to keep away birds that might like to rest on the edge of the panels or who might try to find a way through the mesh.

Add a Decoy

Pigeons are naturally afraid of owls and other predatory birds, so they will avoid an area if they see one. You can scare pigeons away from your solar panels and your property by adding a decoy owl to your roof. Just be sure that you don’t damage your roof or your solar panels when installing it.

You may want to change out the location of the decoy or the type of decoy so that the pigeons don’t become used to it. They need to continue being scared of it for it to be effective.

Get an Ultrasonic Repeller

An ultrasonic repeller emits a high-pitched sound that will annoy and drive away pigeons. But don’t worry! The sound is too high for you to hear. Only the birds will hear it and fly elsewhere. The repeller is also set to a motion detector so that it only goes off when the birds come near the roof. So you don’t have to worry that it is up there annoying the surrounding wildlife.

Most repellers have sound adjustment so you can get the settings just right. You may need to make a few adjustments if the birds are not properly deterred at first.

Hire a Pest Control Expert