This article discusses the process of bird-proofing solar panels to prevent birds from nesting underneath. Portable towers can be used however scaffolding is recommended in some cases.
Bird-proofing involves specialist pest control professionals fitting mesh around the panels to ensure that no birds or other creatures can crawl under them or make a nest. It is recommended that you consider bird-proofing your panels if your immediate neighbour currently has issues with birds flocking on your roofs prior to having solar panels installed, however, we have found that there have been times that, even if there were no prior issues with birds nesting on the roof before, we are finding that birds are gathering under panels without any bird mesh fitted to them.
Bird-proofing involves working at height, but this doesn’t always mean that they require a scaffold. In many instances, the bird-proofing team has a portable tower and rope system that they can utilise, even if the property is two storeys tall. There are certain instances, however, when this can’t be safely used.
One such instance is when there is a lower roof or conservatory that is in the way of the portable tower system being set up. You can think of the tower as something that ‘rolls’ up the wall underneath the roof face, so it needs to be relatively clear and flat for this tower to be used. This is one of the main reasons that we leave the scaffold up for a week after the installation, as issues like this normally become evident within the first few days of having the system installed, so leaving the scaffold up allows us to deal with this swiftly and easily. If the scaffold is on-site and any lower obstacles have already been bridged, then the bird-proofers will easily be able to install the mesh and the complication of any lower obstructions won’t be applicable.
Another instance where a scaffold would likely be required when installing the bird mesh is when the property is three storeys or taller. When this is the case, a portable tower is not safe for the team to utilise, as it won’t be stable enough when trying to fit the mesh at such a high elevation.