Birds get under roof-mounted panels because the installation has to leave a gap. JA Solar's installation manual requires a minimum clearance of 10 cm between the module frame and the roof surface where panels sit parallel to it, so air can circulate behind them. That sheltered, warm, dry void is close to ideal for a pigeon. Closing off the sides is what you are aiming for. Two things catch people out: whether there is an active nest up there, and how the mesh gets attached.
Fit mesh or a skirt around the array perimeter, clipped to the panel frames rather than drilled or screwed into them, and do it outside the bird nesting season. The National Parks and Wildlife Service states plainly that all wild birds are protected under national and EU law. Under the Wildlife Act 1976 you may remove a nest built in or on an occupied building, but not while it holds eggs or young. Where birds are causing serious damage to the building itself, the route is a Section 42 permit from the Minister, not a do-it-yourself solution.
Why the Gap Is There at All
If the void under your panels looks like sloppy workmanship, it is not. JA Solar's manual requires it. Where modules are supported parallel to the surface of a building wall or roof, a minimum clearance of 10 cm between the module frame and that surface is required to allow air to circulate behind the modules and to prevent wiring damage. The same manual's fire safety section asks for adequate ventilation between the module backsheet and the mounting surface.
That shapes the job. Close the perimeter so nothing gets in at the sides, and leave air moving through the cavity. Packing the gap, foaming it or sealing the array down to the tiles works against both of those instructions.
What Irish Law Actually Says
Start with the protection, because it reaches further than most people expect. NPWS states that all wild birds are protected under national and EU law. The protection runs through Section 22 of the Wildlife Act 1976, which applies to every wild bird except those listed in the Act's Third Schedule, and that schedule has been cut back to a single species, the bullfinch. Everything else that might be nesting on your roof is a protected wild bird.
Under Section 22 it is an offence to wilfully destroy, injure or mutilate the eggs or nest of a protected wild bird, and an offence to wilfully disturb a protected wild bird on or near a nest containing eggs or unflown young. The Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage puts the timing beyond doubt: that applies at any time of the year, not only during the nesting season.
Section 22(5) of the Act says it is not an offence to destroy or remove a nest which is built in or on an occupied building. The Wildlife (Amendment) Act 2000 added a clause that changes the practical answer: unless the nest contains the eggs or young of a protected wild bird. So clearing an empty nest from under your panels is within the exception. Clearing one with eggs or chicks in it is not, and no exception rescues it.
So get up there and look first. If the nest is active, the work waits. The Department's own advice for other work around nesting birds is to carry out checks for nests and breeding birds before works are undertaken, and that it is strongly advised that works take place outside the nesting season. Nesting season for Irish garden and countryside birds runs from 1 March to 31 August.
The Pigeon Derogation Does Not Cover Your Roof
There is a Ministerial declaration that allows certain wild birds to be controlled, and the feral pigeon is on it. People reach for it as a general permission to deal with pigeons. It is not one.
The General Declaration signed under the European Communities (Birds Declarations) Regulations 2023 runs from 1 January 2026 to 31 December 2026. It lists Feral Pigeon (Columba livia) and Collared Dove together, and the condition of risk against them is narrow: in the interests of public health and safety, notably contamination of food storage. The permitted methods are shooting with rifle or shotgun, or non-meat-based poisoned or anaesthetic bait, and the bait route is only allowed under a permit issued by NPWS in advance of any control action. The declaration also carries a reporting duty, with an annual return to NPWS from anyone who acts under it.
Read those grounds and those methods against a suburban roof and the gap speaks for itself. Do not treat the declaration as a general licence to deal with birds on your house. It also excludes several relatives of the feral pigeon, among them the wild rock dove, the stock dove, the turtle dove and homing or carrier pigeons, which is worth knowing before anyone decides what species they are looking at.
Where birds genuinely are doing serious damage to the building, there is a proper route. Section 42 of the Wildlife Act covers serious damage by protected wild birds to buildings and other structures and their contents, and the owner or occupier of the property may apply to the Minister for a permission. Applications go to NPWS and are assessed by regional staff, who decide whether serious damage is being caused and what the most practical method of stopping it would be. That assessment can include a visit to the property.
What the Birds Actually Do to the System
None of it is dramatic, but it accumulates, and some of it is more than cosmetic.
- Droppings on the glass. JA Solar's maintenance section names industrial effluents or bird droppings as a case that may be serious, with the extent of the severity depending on the transparency of the foreign objects. Its reason for treating ordinary dust more lightly is that the light intensity is still homogeneous and the power reduction usually is not obvious. The same section notes that accumulated dust may reduce power output and may even cause a regional hot-spot effect.
- Nesting material against the backsheet. The same manual instructs installers to always keep the module backsheet free from foreign objects or structural elements which could come into contact with the panel, especially when the panel is under mechanical load.
- Blocked drainage holes. JA Solar's manual states that drainage holes on the module frame must not be closed or obscured.
- Cabling. JA Solar gives preventing wiring damage as one of its reasons for requiring the 10 cm clearance in the first place.
Mesh and Skirts: the Fixing Is the Whole Question
The job is to close the perimeter of that gap with mesh, clipped on rather than fixed through anything. Products vary. What JA Solar’s manual is specific about is how anything gets attached to a module, and that is where a cheap job turns expensive.
Nothing gets drilled. JA Solar's manual says do not drill holes in the frame, because it may compromise the frame strength and cause corrosion, and says plainly that attempting to drill holes in the glass surface or the module frames will void the warranty. It also instructs installers not to scratch the anodised coating of the frame. Use fixings that clip over the frame rather than through it. If someone reaches for a self-tapping screw, stop them.
Metals have to be compatible. This one is less obvious and gets missed. JA Solar requires that the mounting method must not result in direct contact of dissimilar metals with the aluminium frame of the module, because it will cause galvanic corrosion. A galvanised or plain steel mesh clamped tight against an aluminium frame on a wet Irish roof is a corrosion cell. Ask what the mesh and the clips are made of before they go up.
Ventilation and drainage stay clear. The mesh closes the sides, not the cavity. Drainage holes stay open, and air still moves behind the modules.
None of this needs a specialist to understand, but it does need someone willing to work to the module manual. If the array is going up now, get the bird proofing done in the same visit, while the installer is already on the roof. Our guide on how to vet a solar installer covers the questions that separate the careful ones.
What It Costs
Rather than put a figure on it, here is how to get it priced properly. A rectangular block of panels on one plane has far less edge to close than the same number split across two roof faces or stepped around a dormer.
Ask for it priced per linear metre of array perimeter, with the metres stated, and get the fixing method in writing: clipped, not drilled, and the mesh material named. Those details are what tell you whether you are buying a job that lasts or a roll of mesh cable-tied on. If the quote bundles it in as "bird proofing" with no measurement, ask for the breakdown.
Ask for bird proofing to be itemised on the quote while the installer is on the roof. The SEAI Solar Electricity Grant pays €700 per kWp up to 2 kWp and €200 per additional kWp up to 4 kWp, to a maximum of €1,800, on homes built and occupied before 2025.
Get a Solar Quote →How It Fits With the Rest of Your Maintenance
Bird proofing and cleaning are the same visit, in the right order. Clear and clean first, proof second, because sealing a nest and its droppings inside the cavity solves nothing. Our page on solar panel cleaning and maintenance in Ireland covers what Irish rain does and does not shift, and how long solar panels last goes through the warranty terms that the drilling question puts at risk.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, if the nest is empty. Section 22(5) of the Wildlife Act 1976 says it is not an offence to destroy or remove a nest built in or on an occupied building, which covers your own house. The Wildlife (Amendment) Act 2000 added the limit that matters: the exception does not apply where the nest contains the eggs or young of a protected wild bird. Check before you start, and if it is active, wait.
NPWS states that all wild birds are protected under national and EU law. Section 22 of the Wildlife Act 1976 applies to every wild bird other than those in the Act's Third Schedule, and the only species left in that schedule is the bullfinch. The Minister's General Declaration does allow feral pigeons to be controlled, but only in the interests of public health and safety, notably contamination of food storage, and only by shooting or by non-meat-based bait under an NPWS permit. That is not a basis for clearing your roof.
Outside the nesting season, which for Irish garden and countryside birds runs from 1 March to 31 August. The Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage strongly advises that works take place outside the nesting season, and that where works must happen when nesting birds may be present, checks for nests and breeding birds are carried out beforehand. Autumn and winter are the practical window.
JA Solar's installation manual states that attempting to drill holes in the glass surface or the module frames will void the warranty, and separately says not to drill holes in the frame because it may compromise the frame strength and cause corrosion. It also instructs installers not to scratch the anodised coating of the frame, requires that the mounting method does not put dissimilar metals in direct contact with the aluminium frame because that causes galvanic corrosion, and requires that drainage holes on the module frame are not closed or obscured. Mesh clipped on without breaching any of those instructions does not run into them. Mesh screwed through the frame does.
No. The gap is required. JA Solar's manual calls for a minimum clearance of 10 cm between the module frame and the roof surface where panels sit parallel to it, so air can circulate behind the modules and wiring is not damaged, and asks for adequate ventilation between the backsheet and the mounting surface for fire safety. Bird proofing closes the perimeter and leaves the cavity ventilated.
There is a formal route. Section 42 of the Wildlife Act 1976 covers serious damage by protected wild birds to buildings and other structures and their contents, and the owner or occupier may apply to the Minister for a permission. Applications go to NPWS, which assesses whether serious damage is being caused and what the most practical method of stopping it would be, and the assessment can include a visit to the property.
More than ordinary dust does. JA Solar's maintenance guidance says accumulated dust reducing the sunshine is usually not dangerous, because the light intensity is still homogeneous and the power reduction usually is not obvious. It then names industrial effluents or bird droppings as a case that may be serious, with the extent of the severity depending on the transparency of the foreign objects. The same section notes that accumulated dust may reduce power output and may even cause a regional hot-spot effect.