[Focus on Bird Control] A Place in the Sun

Pigeons often roost around HVAC and solar panels, causing problems for the homeowner.

Many PMPs have heard the old saying, “If you want to find bird work, just look up.” Well, there is a new saying: “If you want to find bird work, just look for solar panels.”

In 2006 it was estimated that 30,000 homes had solar panels; in 2013 there were estimated to be 400,000 homes with them. In 2020, it is expected for there to be 900,000 to 3.9 million home with solar panels in the United States, depending on advances in solar panel design. This is not counting all of the commercial buildings or utility companies that have massive solar panel arrays. I read that in England and Germany, officials are working towards having 50 percent or more of their energy supply to come from solar power. As such, solar panel pigeon control is here to stay.

Pigeons love to roost and nest high on rooftops under roof line overhangs, HVAC units and on the tops of pillars or beams, but residential solar panels offer pigeons the ultimate in protected nesting and roosting sites.

Solar panels offer pigeons protection from overhead flying predators, easy in and out access, as well as protection from extreme weather conditions like rain, snow and in my state of Arizona, the 125°F summer roof-top temperatures.

In Arizona, pigeons are prolific year-round breeders and a flocking type of bird, so even a small array of 20 to 30 solar panels on a residential roof can offer nesting sites for a dozen pairs of pigeons, which can then double or triple every year.

Having dozens of pigeons roosting around solar panels and nesting under a residential solar panel array creates lots of problems, including:

1. Where does all that pigeon poop go as the pigeons move around under the panels? It’s generally going down the roof tiles and onto the ground, pool or walkways below, creating slip and fall hazards and possible health concerns or issues for the residents, their children or pets.

2. Pigeon poop is very acidic. It can reduce the life of a shingle roof by up to 20 percent or more, as well as staining and etching clay or glazed tile roofs.

3. Pigeon poop and pigeon nests under solar panels can build up quickly to the point where when it rains, the water can back up under the shingles or roof tiles, causing water damage to the ceilings. This may require removing a series of solar panels to get access to the bad areas and repairing the roof — which is not going to be inexpensive for the homeowner.

4. Pigeons that are nesting under solar panels spend a lot of time roosting near or on the panel faces. The build-up of normal dust and debris that lands on the panels during the year, combined with pigeon droppings, will reduce the effectiveness of the solar panels — costing the homeowner money every month.
 

Typical Set Up.

A typical solar panel array is either owned by the customer or leased from the solar company (which seems to be the norm in my area). No matter who owns the solar panels, you never want to screw into the solar panel frames as it could void your customer’s warranty or you could hit one of the wire bundles causing you to short out the entire system (learn from my mistakes!).

A common array is 20 to 30 aluminum framed panels that are wired and connected together in a series. That array then runs to a central point under the panels into a main trunk line. That line goes down through the building to the converter (the converter and solar panel controllers are parts that PMPs don’t typically need to worry about).

Top: In this “before” photo, these debris-filled solar panels are in desperate need of a good cleaning. Bottom: After being cleaned and screened in, these solar panels are in tip-top shape.

The solar panel array is usually raised about 8 inches above the roof and is supported by several long cross braces that the solar panels are connected to. The braces are attached to the roof deck in multiple places by support brackets. In our experience, pigeons seem to really like to start their nests against these areas.

Some of the new panels have front, metal angled attachments so you do not look up under the panels from the ground (for aesthetic reasons I guess), but either way, they are difficult to screen off.

We also have come across solar panels with no frames, only a thick glass panel and side brackets to attach the panel to the braces. (We are still working on trying to solve that problem.)

Some new panels are being built into roofs. Tiles are removed and the solar panels lay flat against the tile, creating a clean, flat look.
 

Under Solar Panels.

Many of the bird control product suppliers I’ve spoken with have their own method or product to prevent pigeons from getting under solar panels.

George Winthurst, Nixalite of America, recommends for solar arrays on steeply pitched roofs that PMPs “install the Premium Model S Nixalite on the roof around the perimeter of the array mounting system.” He said this stops birds and animals from getting behind the solar panels and damaging the wires.

For pigeons roosting along the top of the solar panels, PMPs could install a continuous row of Premium Model S Nixalite along the top edge to stop birds from landing, roosting and fouling the solar panels with droppings.

Bird-B-Gone, Spiffy Solar and Heyco all appear to use a type of a metal J-hook with a 4- to 8-inch shaft that goes through the ½-inch hardware screen. It hooks to the panel frame and a metal, locking washer is slid onto the J-hook and tightened down to hold the screen in place.

I had a chance to speak with Cameron Riddell, president of Bird Barrier America, at the recent 2015 NPMA Wildlife Expo about his firm’s solar panel exclusion products and how Bird Barrier came up with the idea. Riddell said about two or three years ago his company started to see the growing need for some type of innovative and non-penetrating exclusion method to keep birds and animals out from under solar panels.

Bird Barrier has come out with a complete system using a plastic UV stable clip that has a thin 3-inch long serrated rod with a disk that slides on it and locks, more like a zip or cable tie. The clips easily attach to the underside of the panel frames every 18 inches, and then you place the firm’s black PVC coated ½-inch hardware wire mesh over the long serrated rod and attach the disk end and tighten down to hold the screen in place.

The Bird Barrier type of attachment method is similar to how we do our solar panel exclusion work with a few tweaks. Because we use so much ¼-inch galvanized hardware screen in our everyday bird control work, we like to also use the ¼-inch screen for the sides of the panels. For us, it’s quicker and easier to cut long 15- to 20-foot strips, which saves time (as well as wear and tear on the installers hands and tools).

More information and detail is available on many of the bird control suppliers’ websites along with videos about solar panel products and how to install them. I would recommend looking at these companies before you spend too much time trying to reinvent the solar panel attachment clips we see almost every day.

Over the past few years of performing residential solar panel pigeon work, we have found it is best done with a two-man crew; three men seems to get in the way of each other.
 

An Example.

Our typical solar panel job will have about 25 panels. It will require about two to five hours of pressure washing and pushing nests out from under the panels. We will use about 80 to 100 panel attachments and it will take two men 7 to 10 hours to clean out and close around all the solar panel array.

When estimating solar panels for pigeon exclusion, you have to take into account the time needed to access the perimeter of the solar panel array. When solar panels are installed they usually start installing from the outside edges and work in, which means many times you will be working from a ladder to set your attachments and the screen or spike for the sides and bottom edges of the panels. This is time consuming and wears on the installers going up and down ladders.

With small, narrow yards, you also may find yourself working from a neighbor’s yard (where you need to place your ladder to get a safe angle). You will need to get permission from the neighbor, which is harder than it should be sometimes. Also don’t forget to get pets out of the yard while you work.
 

The Estimate.

You need to get on the roof and physically look at the solar panel array; I feel you cannot perform the estimate from the ground for solar panels (or general bird work).

Cleaning under the solar panels is where you can (and will) trip up the most. It is amazing how solid and un-moveable a pigeon nest can get after a short period of time. It can be frustrating and can eat up a lot of time when that nest is 7 or 8 feet out of reach.

We have found that using grid paper to draw out the solar panel array makes it much easier to visualize and to determine the details about how many attachments will be needed for the job, working up access times for each side and the linear footage around the panels, as well as the height of the hardware screen to be cut.

Experience is the best teacher in any bird control work and solar panel exclusion is no exception. After you have a few solar panel jobs under your belt and you have made some money (or lost some money), you should be able to get an idea on the time needed and cost of the materials so that when the next job comes around your estimate is more accurate and you work more quickly.

Our installers at Southwest Avian Solutions have done enough solar panels now that they know how many linear feet per hour can be done from a ladder or from the roof top, combined with a cost per attachment and cost per foot of cut hardware screen. In time, this will become more familiar for your firm as well. The only other big factor is the cost for setup and cleaning, so be sure to account for this time in your estimate as well.

To summarize bird control on solar panels:

• Always get on roof and look around and under the solar panels.
• Do not use screws or other screw-type attachments in solar panel frames.
• Check the surrounding area for access to the roof and safe ladder placement.
• Check out bird control supplier companies for attachments and how-to videos.
• Knowing what the cost is and how long it takes to perform each phase of the work (to be able to better quote the work) comes from experience.   
   

Jeff Kimmich is the owner of Southwest Avian Solutions, based in Phoenix, Ariz. Learn more at www.pigeonbirdcontrol.com.