Bird mess

lazza
lazza Solar Expert Posts: 336 ✭✭✭
in General Solar Power Topics #1
HI Forum

I have a slightly obtuse question regarding bird mess.

I installed a very small 600Wp system with a Soladin (Mastervolt) in my in-laws house to save a bit on electricity costs. Works very well. However it is a bit out of sight, hence didnt really keep an eye on it.

When I went up to check why production had paradoxically reduced in summer.. I discovered that one of the panels was completely covered in bird's mess (big problem for single series-connected systems). The trouble is that the TV antennae is just next to the system, and the birds obviously sit on it and s*it on it. ;)

Does anyone know of an environmentally friendly way to stop them landing on the antennae?? some kind of repellent or the like?

Thanks
Larry

ps if i dont reply to any threads for a while, it's because i'm off camping for a couple of weeks and wont be connected.. please excuse any delays.
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Comments

  • solar_dave
    solar_dave Solar Expert Posts: 2,397 ✭✭✭✭
    #2
    Re: Bird mess

    Move the antenna. I had pigeon problems here, nesting in the eves and such, finally hired a professional to exclude those areas to the bird access. Once that was done they started trying to use under my panels, pellet gun has been the best deterrent so far. It doesn't waste them but surely gives them a sore ass.
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  • BB.
    BB. Super Moderators, Administrators Posts: 33,613 admin
    #3
    Re: Bird mess

    Here is a nice PDF download on bird issues.

    If you can put a thin wire/fishing line an inch or so above the perching area can help.

    -Bill
    Near San Francisco California: 3.5kWatt Grid Tied Solar power system+small backup genset
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  • inetdog
    inetdog Solar Expert Posts: 3,123 ✭✭✭✭
    #4
    Re: Bird mess
    solar_dave wrote: »
    ... pellet gun has been the best deterrent so far. It doesn't waste them but surely gives them a sore ass.
    Just don't hit the panels! :-)
    SMA SB 3000, old BP panels.
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  • icarus
    icarus Solar Expert Posts: 5,436 ✭✭✭✭
    #5
    Re: Bird mess

    I was once plagued with starlings in an old house. They wouldn't leave the house alone. I took an electric fence charger, strung parallel wires on nails on the edge of a board, and plugged it in. The wires were close enough together that the birds feet had to hit both the hot and the ground. The first bird to land on it, emitted the worst scream you ever heard, and flew off screaming his head off. That was the last time we had a starling on the house. They learn quickly, and transmit information to others.

    I did the same thing on a bird feeder being over run with black birds. I set up the edge of the feeder, and with a switch in the window. Every time a blackbird landed, I turned it on. No more blackbirds!

    You could temporarily ring your array with HV fence they will get the message!

    Tony
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  • inetdog
    inetdog Solar Expert Posts: 3,123 ✭✭✭✭
    #6
    Re: Bird mess
    icarus wrote: »
    You could temporarily ring your array with HV French charger,, they will get the message!

    Tony

    Yes, starlings are British birds after all.... :-)
    SMA SB 3000, old BP panels.
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  • icarus
    icarus Solar Expert Posts: 5,436 ✭✭✭✭
    #7
    Re: Bird mess

    I'm Canadian after all, as they used to say about Jean Cretian,, I speak NEITHER official language!

    Meegwech,,niche,


    Tony

    (anishnabege/Ojibwa )
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  • inetdog
    inetdog Solar Expert Posts: 3,123 ✭✭✭✭
    #8
    Re: Bird mess
    icarus wrote: »
    I'm Canadian after all, as they used to say about Jean Cretian,, I speak NEITHER official language!

    Meegwech,,niche,


    Tony

    (anishnabege/Ojibwa )

    Triumph the Insult Comic Dog was in Canada, and interviewed a charming elderly Quebecois couple, who did not understand most of what he was saying.
    Triumph: "So you are telling me that you are both French and Canadian?"
    Couple: "Oui."
    Triumph: "So that means that you are both irritating and boring?"
    And they just smiled. :-)
    SMA SB 3000, old BP panels.
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  • n3qik
    n3qik Solar Expert Posts: 741 ✭✭
    #9
    Re: Bird mess

    Bird spikes !!!

    http://www.nixalite.com/birdspikes.aspx
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  • stephendv
    stephendv Solar Expert Posts: 1,571 ✭✭
    #10
    Re: Bird mess
    n3qik wrote: »
    Bird spikes !!!

    http://www.nixalite.com/birdspikes.aspx

    Yep, I used a strip of this on top of an outdoor security camera and it works a treat. The spikes are metal though... not sure if they'll interfere with an antenna or not.
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  • n3qik
    n3qik Solar Expert Posts: 741 ✭✭
    #11
    Re: Bird mess

    They do make them in plastic.
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  • dataman19
    dataman19 Registered Users Posts: 6 ✭
    #12
    Re: Bird mess

    Here in Phoenix I chuckle every time I see a flock of pigeons roosting on Bird Spikes....
    Not sure if this would be a permanent deterrent or not..
    ... Also noticed a few fake owls around... They seem to work really well for a few days or weeks anyway... But the other day noticed a pigeon roosting on the head of a fake owl... The next day the roof was littered with pigeons..
    ..
    Them thar critters seem to catch on real quick..
    ...
    My suggestion is to move the "fake owl" occaisionaly. I also notice that Cabella's sells a fake owl with a wireless remote so it moves its head now and then. That should et you a couple of more days worth of bird deterrent..
    ..
    Dave
    Phoenix, AZ
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  • BB.
    BB. Super Moderators, Administrators Posts: 33,613 admin
    #13
    Re: Bird mess

    I read a paper somewhere that birds (or at least the caged birds under study) react with fright to any new shape in the sky... Yes, they are afraid of falcons and such--But that is (apparently) because they are a rare sight in their "world".

    They did the same test with round, square, etc. shapes and got the same initial reaction as with predator outlines. After awhile of "flying" these shapes over head, the birds became desensitized to any/all shapes the more they were seen (and, I presume, nothing "bad" happened to the test subjects).

    -Bill
    Near San Francisco California: 3.5kWatt Grid Tied Solar power system+small backup genset
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  • icarus
    icarus Solar Expert Posts: 5,436 ✭✭✭✭
    #14
    Re: Bird mess

    My fake owl is so covered with guano it is pure white!

    Tony
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  • ggunn
    ggunn Solar Expert Posts: 1,973 ✭✭✭
    #15
    Re: Bird mess
    BB. wrote: »
    I read a paper somewhere that birds (or at least the caged birds under study) react with fright to any new shape in the sky... Yes, they are afraid of falcons and such--But that is (apparently) because they are a rare sight in their "world".

    They did the same test with round, square, etc. shapes and got the same initial reaction as with predator outlines. After awhile of "flying" these shapes over head, the birds became desensitized to any/all shapes the more they were seen (and, I presume, nothing "bad" happened to the test subjects).

    -Bill
    I saw a demonstration which showed a somewhat different result. The researchers created a bird shaped silhouette with the spread wings nearer one end than the other and put it on a rotating arm on a pole. They put a gaggle of ducklings in a pen around the base of the pole when the sun was overhead and spun the arm around. If they spun it so that the long part of the silhouette was at the leading edge so that it looked like a duck or goose in flight, the ducklings did not react. If they spun it the other way, they panicked.
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  • justsumguy
    justsumguy Registered Users Posts: 9 ✭
    #16
    Re: Bird mess

    go to your local toy store and get a plastic snake or two zip tie them to the affected areas. I've used this method with great success and have yet to see any bird drops on ceiling fans located in a patio area since the snakes were installed over three years ago.
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