Businesses and individuals throughout the West Yorkshire region are doing their bit to reduce carbon footprint. Beeston, Leeds based Harrison Spinks has been producing its beds and mattresses for over 150 years and has now been granted prestigious carbon neutral status. 

Leeds bus station is under-going an ambitious £5 million renovation which will include the installation of rooftop solar panels. The White Rose Shopping Centre  in Leeds reduced its electricity bill by around 25% overnight as a result of what was said to be the largest UK retail solar installation before the one at Meadowhall in Sheffield had its installed.

Leeds Council is also showing a lead – investing £200 million into environmentally friendly concerns as it bids to drastically reduce its carbon footprint. A £16 million project to include installation of solar panels on council houses, and a £7.5 million investment in electric vehicles are among the schemes being earmarked. Leeds councillors have sent a long carbon reduction wish list to central government requesting help in the council’s bid to become carbon neutral by 2030.

Many thousands of Leeds residents have done their bit by having solar panels installed on their rooftops, and solar energy will certainly play a vital role going forward in terms of reducing our own carbon impact. But with solar panels comes a problem with birds nesting under solar panels.

Feral pigeons need cover over their heads when nesting, and solar panels provide them with the perfect combination of warmth, shelter and relative safety for their young.

Pigeons also nest all year round, having several broods per year, so their numbers can increase much more quickly than most other birds and they quickly become a pest.

As well as creating a great deal of noise, they also produce a huge amount of fouling. It’s estimated that one pigeon will produce up to 11kg of fouling per year  – that means a flock of just 20 birds can be churning out 220kg per year – that’s 480lb – or about half the weight of a grand piano!
But it’s not just the amount of mess and noise. Pigeon fouling is really very dangerous stuff.

It is a vector for some really nasty pathogens and bacteria that can cause very serious illness indeed in humans – even blindness and death – if accidentally breathed in dry, if it gets into cuts or is accidentally ingested. As such you need to get the pigeons off your property as quickly as you can, and clearance of fouling should only be attempted by someone who knows what they are doing and wearing the appropriate PPE.

Our Leeds solar panel pigeon proofing service covers all Leeds and the surrounding area including Headingley, Horsforth, Roundhay and Chapel Allerton and beyond to places like Bradford, Wakefield, Pontefract, Huddersfield and Halifax. Indeed solar panel pigeon protection in Yorkshire anywhere is covered.

We use a very solid galvanised steel mesh which is far superior to roll mesh. The mesh comes in sheets, not rolls, with a thick gauge of wire that requires industrial cutters to cut it to size. As such it enables our technicians to shape the mesh not just to your panel configuration, but also to the rides of your roof tiles if they deem it necessary to stop birds getting back under solar panels.

The work involves an experienced two-man team with all the expertise, training and equipment in place to undertake work like this. The first part of the job is to get the birds out from under the solar panels. This can be straightforward or very difficult, but we do not remove the panels from the bars as that would invalidate your warranty with your solar panel company, as indeed would any drilling to fit the proofing. We have all the licences in place to be able to do this within the law.

The teams remove as much of the nesting materials under the panels as they can without risking the performance of the panels, before applying a professional strength biocide around where any nesting has been going on. This is done firstly to treat any fouling that has got onto the fittings, as pigeon guano is also high in uric acid and corrosive over time. It’s also to try and deal with the bird mites that will be in the nests. Bird mites are tiny little biting insects that feed on the blood of chicks in nests, but they commonly get inside properties and start feeding on human blood. They live in cavities, drive you mad, are difficult to get rid of and indeed are a very good reason to stop birds nesting under your solar panels per se.

The solar panel proofing mesh is fitted side-on to the edge of the panels giving a neat, effective finish. It is attached using UVA stable Polymer fittings with a long shelf life alongside some vertical tensioning of some of the strong prongs under the lips of the panels to give a very strong and secure finish. The use of metal fittings needs to be avoided as metal to metal corrodes , and there is no drilling involved. We carry out literally hundreds of solar panel proofing works a year and the process comes with a gilt edged 10 YEAR GUARANTEE.

We also offer a gutter cleaning service and solar panel cleaning service, plus we can fit pigeon spikes and chimney cowls if required, and we can usually quote you within 10 minutes over the phone if we can find your property on Google Maps – give us a call now on 0800 327 7293.