Solar Panel Bird Control: Helpful Tips and Methods
Written by Erick Wolf
Solar panel bird control is hardly top of mind when home and business owners across the country make a move to be more environmentally conscious. Unfortunately, even though you may have considered it when initially making your investment, inevitably, you will find that it’s something that requires immediate action.
It may not seem like a big deal when at first, you just notice a few birds gathering. The issue arises as the birds call your solar panels home and begin multiplying at rapid, uncontrollable rates.
In this article, we’ll take an in-depth look at pigeon control on solar panels, including discussing why it’s essential and identifying some of the most popular solar panel bird control methods today.
Why Use Bird Control for Solar Panels?
As previously mentioned, it might not immediately sound alarm bells in your mind if you see a few birds here and there near your panels. Still, you must be vigilant in ensuring these birds aren’t making a home out of your panels. After all, solar panels provide both shelter and warmth, making them an ideal place to call home.
Whether the pigeons and other birds are using your solar panels to seek shelter from weather conditions, predators or to nest, you’ll need to act quickly. Birds can rapidly reduce the effectiveness of your investment due to the build-up of nesting materials and the poo they leave behind.
Most Popular Solar Panel Bird Control Methods
To avoid potentially damaging your investment, you should consider solar panel bird control methods when the panels are being installed. Various factors go into determining the best bird control method for solar panels, including:
Number of panels
Types of birds in the area
Available resources
You don't have to worry if you’ve already got solar panels up. You can still consider many of the most popular bird control methods available today.
Birth Control
When it comes to pigeon control on solar panels, bird birth control is the most humane option currently on the market. The bird birth control acts to limit the capability of the flocks' rapid multiplication at uncontrollable rates rather than attacking the live population.
Bird Netting
Bird netting creates a physical barrier to prevent birds from landing or nesting on or around your solar panels. Although netting can be effective, it is not a save-all solution when it comes to solar panel bird control methods because some species are small enough to fit within the netting and are protected even further from natural predators.
Solar Panel Bird Mesh
Similar to bird netting, another increasingly popular solar panel bird control method utilizes bird mesh. Birds can’t access the underneath of your panels because the mesh is designed to seal this highly sought-after area.
How discreet the bird mesh looks is one of its most significant advantages. Bird mesh can be costly, though, as it can be a difficult job and requires installation from a bird eradication expert to be done correctly and effectively.
Bird Spikes
Another way to help keep birds away from unwanted areas of your solar panels is by using bird spikes. Depending on your needs, these spikes come in various splay widths, ranging from one to ten inches.
While bird spikes can help prevent perching in specific areas, the birds will eventually find a way to rest in other locations whenever possible. As you can imagine, it’s not ideal for covering your building in bird spikes to avoid any issues with your solar panels.
Keep the Yard and Garden Clean
A proactive solar panel pigeon control method is to keep your garden clean. You can remove food sources for the birds by ensuring your garden has no waste lying around, and any bins surrounding your house are tightly sealed.
For this method to be effective, anything birds might eat around your garden needs to be removed. Unfortunately, this method is strictly a proactive measure. Once you have birds, this tip will not help you eliminate them from your solar panels.
Clean the Solar Panels Regularly
Another proactive step is to keep your panels clean and in good condition. Birds are much less interested in nesting amongst solar panels in good, clean, and working condition.
To ensure the long-term functionality of your panels, it is always recommended to have your solar panels serviced by professionals.
Why Use OvoControl in Solar Panel Bird Control?
You’ll often find that it requires the use of multiple options to get the job done when it comes to finding effective solar panel bird control methods. Especially in larger solar panel arrays, you might have to get creative. Thankfully, OvoControl is the new solution to solar panel bird control.
Using OvoControl
Birds eat OvoControl, which is an edible, kibble-type bird birth control. As the birds feed on OvoControl, the compounds within the formula work to limit the ability of a pigeon’s egg to develop fully.
The active ingredient, nicarbazin, was discovered as birth control by accident. Although it has been used in chickens for enteric diseases for over 65 years, researchers found nicarbazin interfered with the membrane needed in an egg’s development, the egg’s vitelline layer. As a result, OvoControl integrated nicarbazin to serve as a sterilizer for birds.
Final Thoughts
While there are a few different options for pigeon control on solar panels, they often require multiple solutions and can still not be entirely effective. One of the most humane and practical solutions to solar panel bird control today is OvoControl. Its non-toxic active ingredient ensures humane treatment of the birds, while its multiple delivery options make it customizable to any bird population size.
