Bird proofing solar panels on farm buildings

A gap between a solar array and a farm roof looks to a pigeon like a ledge with a roof on it: dry, warm and out of the wind. On a shed that already holds feed or grain the birds were often there first, and the array simply gives them somewhere better to nest. This guide covers why that matters to an insurer, what the law says before anyone touches a nest, how to compare the exclusion methods, and what a quote should say. It supports the main guide to solar panel fire risk on farm buildings.

Why it is a fire and insurance question, not only a mess

The insurers’ code of practice for rooftop PV, RC62 (second edition, 2023, developed through RISCAuthority with the Microgeneration Certification Scheme and Solar Energy UK and published by the Fire Protection Association), treats birds under panels as a fire-safety issue in two ways:

• Nests and debris. The gaps between panels and the roof trap waste, foliage and bird and rodent nests. RC62 describes these as hot-spots: ignition sources with additional fuel in direct contact with the PV system.
• Droppings. The code says droppings stick whatever the pitch of the array, cause partial shading on individual cells that leads to hot spots, and that such hot spots have been known to develop into faults leading to fire.

RC62 also states that insurers expect a regular cleaning programme for all commercial PV installations. Exclusion work reduces what that programme has to deal with. It does not replace it, and it should never stop the cleaner or the inspector reaching the underside of the array. The farm-specific side of the same code is set out on the guide to solar panel insurance for farm buildings.

What the law says before anyone touches a nest

Under section 1(1) of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 it is an offence intentionally to kill, injure or take any wild bird, to damage or destroy a nest while it is in use or being built, or to take or destroy an egg. Moving an array’s worth of exclusion material into a gap that holds an active nest is exactly the situation the Act is written for.

Pigeons make the timing awkward. Coventry City Council’s pest-control information sheet says feral pigeons are capable of breeding all year round, with a peak between March and July. It describes two eggs laid in succession, incubation of about 18 days, fledging roughly four to five weeks later, and new eggs laid as early as the young being 20 days old. A nest under a panel can therefore be in use in any month, and the sensible order of work is:

1. Check for an active nest before any mesh, wire or netting goes on.
2. Fit the exclusion once the young have left, so nothing is sealed in.
3. Clear old nests and droppings as part of the same visit, so the birds do not simply move back into the same gap.

If pest control is needed rather than exclusion, England has a general licence system. The NFU’s member guidance (updated 31 March 2026) says Natural England issues the England pest-bird licences, that the current set runs to 31 December 2026, and that licence GL42 covers controlling feral pigeon to prevent serious damage to livestock foodstuffs and to crops, fruit and vegetables. Licence GL41, for public health and safety, covers feral pigeon too. Anyone relying on a general licence has to keep making reasonable endeavours using lawful methods, which in practice means trying exclusion and deterrence first, and the NFU advises keeping records of the problem and of what else was tried. Where a general licence no longer covers a purpose, an individual licence from Natural England is needed. Licences are reissued each year and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland run their own, so read the current wording before acting. This page is not legal advice.

The main methods, and what to test each against

Method	What it does	What to check
Mesh skirt along the lower edge of the array	Closes the gap between the modules and the roof, where nests are built	Does it trap debris against the underside? Can it be opened or removed for cleaning and inspection? Does it press on cables?
Spikes or tension wire on array edges, ridges and ledges	Stops birds perching and walking in	It does not close the void, so on its own it does not stop nesting underneath
Netting across an open-sided structure (Dutch barn, open-fronted shed)	Keeps birds out of the whole building rather than one array	Fixing to the steel frame, clearances, and who works at height to fit it
Decoys, gels and sound devices	Aim to make the spot unattractive	The sources used for this guide give no independent evidence on how well they work, so treat supplier claims as claims

Four tests come straight from RC62’s reasoning. A system should not create a new place for debris to collect. It should leave the underside of the array open to inspection, cleaning and thermography. It should not squeeze cables, and on a pitched roof it should leave the air path under the modules alone: RC62 notes the chimney effect beneath panels and the heat radiated back onto the roof from the modules’ underside.

The work itself is roof work

Fitting mesh along an array edge is work at height on the roof surface. HSE’s asbestos guidance states plainly that asbestos cement roofs are always fragile and cannot bear weight, and its task sheets point to its fragile-roof guidance for the fall precautions. NFRC’s guidance sheet HSGS44, written for asbestos cement roofs, describes underslung netting as the primary method of collective fall prevention under the Work at Height Regulations 2005, with over-netting acceptable only where higher controls have been ruled out. A cement-sheet roof is the common case on older farm sheds, and the decision on that roof comes first: see solar panels on asbestos cement farm roofs.

On a roof like that, an exclusion kit that needs fixings through the sheets is a different job from one that clips to the module frame or rail. HSE’s asbestos task sheet says to avoid drilling through the cement sheet where possible.

The cheapest moment to fit exclusion is when scaffolding or access platforms are already up, which means at installation or at a planned cleaning visit, not as a separate call-out.

Warranty, insurance and the paperwork

Three questions go in writing before anything is fitted:

• Does the kit touch the module frames, the wiring or the racking, and does that affect the product warranty or the installer’s workmanship warranty? The layers are explained on the guide to solar panel warranty on farm buildings. Ask the module manufacturer or the installer rather than assuming.
• Has the insurer been told? An alteration to an insured array is the sort of change a policy expects to hear about.
• Where is it recorded? Put the fitting date, the method and the nest check in the operations file next to the annual inspection record. String-level monitoring is how an owner notices a shaded or faulty string between inspections; see solar farm monitoring.

What a bird-exclusion quote should state

• The nest check before work, and what happens if an active nest is found.
• The fixing method: clips to the frame, adhesive, or fixings into the roof. On a cement-sheet roof, a statement that nothing penetrates the sheets.
• The mesh or wire material and aperture, and confirmation that the air path under the modules is kept.
• How the underside will be reached afterwards: removable sections or access points for cleaning and inspection.
• The work-at-height method for this roof type, including how a fragile roof is protected.
• Clearance of old nests and droppings. Coventry City Council’s guidance treats pigeon droppings as a public-health hazard, so the quote should name who clears them and how the waste is handled.
• A written statement on the effect, if any, on the warranty.
• A re-inspection date, so the first nesting season after the work is checked rather than assumed.

A price per metre means little until these are on the page. The RC62 clauses behind the cleaning and inspection routine are set out in why solar panel fires start, and what RC62 asks of a farm roof, and for the overall picture of roof-mounted systems on sheds and stores see solar panels for farm buildings.