How To Prevent Pigeons From Nesting Under Your Solar Panels

Unfortunately, your solar panels are prime real estate for bird nests, as they can protect nests from the elements and provide heat from the electricity. When left unchecked, the dry twigs, leaves, and other detritus can easily spark and cause your solar panels and the rest of your home to catch fire. Pigeons specifically can be an even worse hazard to solar panels, as their droppings are highly corrosive and can destroy the panel faces. To help you avoid these worst-case scenarios, we go over how to prevent pigeons and other birds from nesting under your solar panels.

Keep Your Roof, Panels, and Yard Clean

When birds and other pests gather around an area, it’s likely that they’ve found a food source that keeps them coming back. If this is due to a fruit or vegetable garden, you may want to consider upping security with plastic predators or sound emitters. Even if you don’t have a garden, there could still be various nuts, seeds, and bugs gathering on your roof, panels, or yard. If you clean these areas, you can eliminate at least some of the birds’ food sources, preventing them from wanting to come back. These seeds and nuts can also gather under solar panels, so be sure to check underneath, especially if smaller pests are storing their hoards on your roof.

Utilize and Combine Various Deterrents

There are many deterrents you can use to rid your roof of birds, but they all vary in effectiveness and aren’t suitable for every situation. As mentioned, you can use plastic predators that scare off other birds. But if they don’t move, birds will get used to them. You may want to choose something more high-tech that moves and emits noise. The same goes for sonic and ultrasonic sound emitters.

Optical gels and bird-proofing pastes work as more short-term deterrents. Bird-proof pastes go on areas where birds like to congregate and are usually sticky with strong smells that the birds find offensive. However, these gels require consistent reapplication, and some birds may become permanently stuck and subsequently die on your roof. Optical gels come in dishes and also emit smells birds don’t like, but the light they emit tricks the birds into thinking they’re approaching a fire.

Bird-Proof Your Roof

If you’re looking for a harmless way to deter pigeons, you have a few options, including reflective discs, roof spikes, and bird guards. These are long lasting and won’t hurt any birds. While reflective disks can go anywhere, you want to ensure that you have professionals install your bird guards. Proper bird guard installation is critical, as improper installation can void your warranty and damage your panels. Finally, bird spikes can prevent birds from landing altogether when clustered together. They’re uncomfortable rather than painful to the birds.

Now that you know how to prevent pigeons and other birds from nesting under your solar panels, you can protect your solar panels and your home from unnecessary damage. However, if these methods don’t work, you may want to consider contacting a professional pest control company to avoid any more headaches.