Servicing a solar system damaged by seagulls

Located in East Boston, MA, and founded in 1924, Sparrow Enterprises is a prominent cocoa powder and chocolate distributor and a well-known brand in New England’s confectionery industry.

Challenge

The property’s 99.905 kW solar system had been severely damaged by seagulls and needed to be addressed. Seagulls colonize, pollute, and damage solar panel arrays to get warmth, leverage updrafts, safely nest against weather and predators, and crack open shellfish. Their feces further affect power production, warranting frequent and expensive panel cleaning.

Solution

Solect suggested installing a wire grid over the solar array to keep seagulls at bay. The US Department of Agriculture and Wildlife Service recommends wire grids as a permanent, effective, and non-harmful seagull deterrent for flat surfaces, roofs, solar panel arrays, and docks.

Solect designed the grid pattern for the maximum deterrent effect to protect the solar panels and ensure uninterrupted solar production. The solution has made a remarkable difference for Sparrow Enterprises, increasing solar production with no reports of soiled or broken panels ever since.