More than 250 five-star reviews. A polished website. Every appearance of professionalism… What we saw on the roof told a very different story.
A pool of blood.
A trail of blood leading directly from underneath the solar panels and evidence of young pigeons nesting beneath the array.
Whatever your opinion of pigeons, stop for a moment and think about what a baby bird actually is.
It is a baby!
It is tiny.
It is frightened.
It is vulnerable.
It cannot understand why somebody is reaching underneath the solar panels towards it…
It cannot tell somebody they are hurting it.
It cannot protect itself.
It cannot fight back.
Think about a human baby. A human baby has no idea what is happening around it. It relies completely on the adults handling it to make the right decisions. A baby bird is vulnerable in the same fundamental way. Different animal. Same helplessness.
Its entire safety depends on the human beings around it choosing to treat it with care and being a pigeon does not make unnecessary suffering acceptable.
Rushing a job is not an excuse
Solar protection is not simply about getting mesh around the panels as quickly as possible and moving on to the next job. When an installer finds eggs, chicks or juvenile birds underneath a solar array, the job changes. There is now a living animal involved. If dealing with that animal humanely takes longer, then take longer.
If the work needs to stop while the appropriate course of action is determined, then stop.
No customer should be saving an hour of labour at the expense of an animal that cannot defend itself and homeowners need to understand that the person they allow onto their roof matters. Choosing somebody solely because they are cheap, available tomorrow, or promises to finish the job quickly can have consequences. Solar protection involves someone's home, an electrical installation, valuable roofing and, sometimes, living animals…
This work is not for cowboys.
Ask your installer what happens to the baby birds
Before engaging anyone to carry out solar panel bird protection, ask them directly:
“What happens if you find baby birds underneath my solar panels?”
Don't accept a vague answer.
Ask how they handle eggs, chicks and juvenile birds.
Ask what their procedure is.
And if baby birds are discovered, ask for photographs before and after they are handled.
Ask for clear photographs showing the birds where they were found and photographs documenting their condition and what was done with them afterwards. If somebody is telling you the birds were removed carefully and humanely, there should be no problem documenting that process.
There is no excuse for unnecessary suffering!
What we discovered during this inspection concerned us enough that Australian Solar Mesh reported the circumstances to the appropriate NSW animal welfare authority. That is not something we take lightly. We work around pigeons every day. We understand the damage they can cause to solar installations and properties. We understand why homeowners want them gone but preventing pigeons from nesting underneath solar panels does not require abandoning basic humanity.
You can protect a solar installation.
You can protect a roof.
You can stop birds returning.
And you can still treat a tiny living animal with care…
Those things are not mutually exclusive.
If eggs, chicks or juvenile birds are discovered beneath solar panels and dealing with them properly takes more time:
Then take more time.
Finishing a job faster is never more important than the welfare of a helpless living animal.
They do not understand what is happening.
They cannot protect themselves.
They cannot ask you to stop.
Its entire safety depends on the human beings around it choosing to treat it with care.