This is a great question and one we get asked most frequently, there is such a large variation on costs as there are now many people and companies offering to stop pests going under your solar panels. This creates many different rates for doing what is perceived to be the same job.
Unfortunately, the workmanship of these jobs varies as wildly as the prices. As the saying goes “there is nothing more expensive than cheap” as you will see in the short video below.
Area Pest Control carried out their first Solar Panel Pigeon protection work in 2013, 3 years after the company had started, in the years following solar panel pigeon removal and protection took off. To date Area Pest Control have protected over 500 complete solar arrays, many thousands of solar panels, from not only pigeons but also jackdaws, crows and squirrels. As with many new areas of work they tend to attract ‘to coin a phrase’ cowboy builders which was very much the case in the 1980s with the double glazing boom and to a similar extent, Solar Panel installation companies in the early 2000s (hence why most early companies are no longer with us).
So how much does it cost to have your solar panels protected from pigeons? Well it can vary but we have been called to jobs where the homeowner had previously paid as little as £150.00…sounds like a bargain right?!
Unfortunately not, as this was one person with a ladder and some gutter brush who seemingly ran out part way round so left the top open, which didn’t matter as the pigeons pulled the gutter bush out of the side and went back under. It’s worth noting that none of the nests, eggs, chicks or dead pigeons that were under the solar panels had been removed as well.
In our long experience of rectifying failed cheap pigeon solar panel proofing, the average cost of a cheap job is £350, which is extremely expensive considering it is very unlikely to work.
Take a look at the video below which highlights a failed solar panel pigeon job that we rectified. This gives a clear insight into the different levels of workmanship involved and what you can expect to get for your money.
Now you have seen the difference, let’s look at the so-called expensive job. This particular job featured in the video consists of 15 panels with clear access for scaffolding but if Area Pest Control had been called in first place, it would have been £850.
Let’s look at the level of service and workmanship you will receive when done properly vs a cheaper job:
- Works as per the General Licence provided by Natural England to ensure the works are carried out legally and humanely
- Solar Panel and Inverter status check to confirm the panels are working correctly
- Scaffolding installed for safe working practice as per the Health and Safety Executive – HSE
- Carry out a Biocide treatment to the gutter and tiles under the panels, to kill the bacteria identified with Birds
- Remove Pigeons, chicks and nests from under the solar panels
- Remove droppings from the gutter
- Clip the solar panels with steel galvanised clips (not plastic or nylon)
- Attached welded wire mesh (not chicken wire) to the clips using galvanised wire, to prevent the mesh from being removed
- 6 Year Guarantee, backed by Area Pest Control having been established in 2010 and experience in solar panel pigeon proofing since 2013
- Specialist industry insurance to work over 10 meters with solar panels
- Technicians trained to British Pest Control Association — BPCA level 2, PASMA and IPAF
- Company Accreditations: accredited and audited by the BPCA
Sadly the cheap option job is unlikely to include any of the above so if you are currently looking at solar panel protection and you receive a cheap price, it’s more than likely that you can add an extra day off work and £850 to the cost (so not so cheap afterall).
If you are looking for the “peace of mind” option when it comes to Solar Panel Pigeon removal, Area Pest Control are here to help.
