Squirrels under Solar Panels

They'll find their way around chicken wire if they want to. Can you enclose the wires in metal conduit? This would work.

There is a new product out of California that does a great job of keeping squirrels, pigeons and everything else out from under your solar panels. It's called SolaTrim.

Go to www.solartrim.com and take a look.

Hokey Smoke, Bullwinkle!

Forever afterward his friends called him 'Rocket J (Rocky)' the Flying Squirrel.

Kris, was that you??

Tom D.

Doesn't that squirrel ever get tired?

We wrapped the wires with metal mesh, the aluminum mesh used to cover gutters to keep leaves out. The mesh was wrapped around the wires and secured with UV resistant zip ties. That seemed to do the job. Additionally, I pruned all of the bushes and trees around my house so the squirrels can't jump from them to the roof. The squirrels don't appear to climb up the side of the house (vinyl siding) to the roof.

My local agricultural extension agent also suggested placing small animal traps on the roof. He said if I trapped the offending squirrels the rest would not be as inclined to get on the roof. But, I haven't seen any squirrels on my roof since the wires were wrapped and the foilage trimmed. Good luck.

Hey, take advantage of it! Install a bank of mini squirrel-cage turbines under there. They'll work even when the sun don't shine and the wind don't blow....

(Hybrid tech at its finest!)

Hello from Ithaca, New York. My 32 panel 7.2 kW system stopped working a few days ago. I had the solar contractor here today and it turns out squirrels chewed through the wires running to many of the panels. I'll have to pay for two people on my roof two days removing all the panels, checking the wiring and replacing as needed. There are no trees near my house. If I'm going to spend the money to repair the system, I want to prevent the same from happening again. I've read the previous posts. Any other ideas???

I feel your pain. That is what I had to go through. The only other thing I can suggest is to confirm with the maunufacturer whatever fix is planned. See what type of wire was used to connect the panels and make sure that the conduit or mesh or whatever you plan to encase the wires in is suitable for the wire. I'm not an electrician. I've been told by some, that some wire can be run through conduit and some cannot. Good luck.

Enclosing the solar panel array with some type of wire mesh such as chicken wire would probably work but, if there are trees in the area leaves will accumulate on the high side of the array. This will cause a dam which will stop air flow under the panels. Without air flow the panels will heat up and when they heat up their efficiency goes down. The best solution that I have found is to encase the wires in something.

Very frustrating indeed.

As already recommended, prune back bushes and trees but obviously some of the little buggers will still find a way up onto the roof.

Chicken wire may prove to be too light weight. Is there any way to utilize light gage wire mesh screen such as or similar to this: http://www.louispage.com/blog/bid/19473/Welded-Wire-Mesh

I'm sure that this opens a whole new can of worms as far as mounting and securing the screen though.

Or how about sealtite: http://www.delikon.com/sealtite.html to protect the cables/connections themselves, the squirrels may chew through the PVC jacket cover but I doubt they will chew through the metal jacket.

Both should be relatively inexpensive for DIY

If all else fails break out the Remington 1100 Gas Auto loader (to be used prior to the squirrels getting on the roof under the panels).

Good luck!

Hi Don

Water!

Unless squirrels are aquatic animals and don't mind getting wet, (we don't have them here ), this should work. I had a hard time with possums when we moved in. We tried the whole gambit of suggestions and only one worked in the end. Just plain water.

Mine was activated by a trip plate which I placed in their path. They had to get past that spot to get into the roof cavity were they had set up home. It was about A3 size and was connected to a standard lawn sprinkler. They could also get out but for the last time.

You could use a motion sensor or trip wire which, when triggered, would release a burst of water, in your case under the panels. They hated it so much that it was instant relief. They never came back and it is not even up there anymore.

You get the idea, I think. Easy to make up and improvise. Hydrophobia is something they can't resist or is that the other way around? Anyway that should keep them away and they'll tell the others not to bother.

They look like rats when they are drenched so have no mercy. Its as funny as BTW.

Good luck and please report back, Ky.

Ky, do yew mean there are no squirrels just on the island as opposed to the mainland?

Wiki says they're an introduced species to Australia.

Never heard of anyone having problems with the bushy tailed. I suppose they are just as cunning as possums. Uncle Ky will tell you a story one day about how destructive they can be. I would need garths permission to do so though .

BTW when I saw the title of the thread I thought of the video you inserted. I had hoped someone would have that train of thought and remember were it was stored on the machine. The full length version is just soooo funny. Heidi thought it was cruel but then again she collects shoes and boots and such stuff.

Gosh I love it here, Ky.

I had the contractor wrap all of the exposed wires with expanded aluminum mesh, the stuff used for covering gutters, and I trimmed bushes and trees around my house that would possibly allow the squirrels to jump onto the roof. I have also legally trapped and relocated some squirrels. So far, so good. Good luck.