Tell us the property type, roughly how many panels, and whether you are in a conservation area or the property is listed. A bungalow is from £995; two-storey is from £1,495 with the scaffold included.
Book bird meshAll solar services in YorkSolar Tech Support is an absolute lifesaver. My solar and battery system stopped working completely, but after one quick phone call, they fixed the problem straight away. The original provider, GivEnergy, has gone into administration, leaving me entirely without support from the original installers. It was a terrible situation on GivEnergy’s part, but thankfully, Solar Tech Support came to the rescue!
I’ve used Ron a couple of times regarding issues with my Givenergy inverter and batteries after Givenergy went bust. My system stopped working properly so it was a stressful time but Ron resolved the issues and got my system working properly again. He’s really helpful and knowledgeable and I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend him and to use him again if the need arose.
Absolutely brilliant service. Our GivEnergy battery stopped working for no obvious reason. The manufacturers have gone in administration so no aftercare is available. Our installer could not diagnose the problem and gave up. We were at our wits end. A web search came up with Solar Tech Support. In truth, the reviews almost seemed to good to be true. But Ron diagnosed the problem within the hour and fixed it remotely the same day. He explained everything clearly and thoroughly and has offered solutions to other issues we had too. I honestly cannot recommend Ron highly enough. An absolute godsend in the mess that GivEnergy have left behind in their demise. Thank you again for all your help!
Very pleased with solar tech support , they were very informative and helpful , arrived when they said they would and did a great job , I would highly recommend them .
Any long suffering Givenergy customers are strongly recommended to use solar tech support. They fixed my battery issue in couple of hours.
Amazing! I was having trouble with a flat GivEnergy battery and solar panels not working. I contacted through WhatsApp and we managed to get it all sorted within a couple of days! Super fast service. I can’t thank you enough for your help when my installer didn’t want to know and GivEnergy has gone in to administration! I know where to go if anything happens again!
This is the question York owners ask first, and it deserves a straight answer rather than a reassuring one. Bird mesh is not like replacing an inverter. It is an addition to the outside of the building, which is exactly the category conservation rules are concerned with.
Bird mesh does not require planning permission in England for standard domestic installations. For most York properties, including a great many inside conservation areas, that is the end of the matter.
City of York Council's own solar guidance states that planning permission is not usually required to install solar panels on the roof of a house or block of flats in a conservation area. That is about the panels rather than about mesh, and it is quoted here as context for how the council treats roof-mounted solar, not as permission for anything.
Listed buildings, and any property where an external alteration has previously been an issue. Listed building consent is a separate matter from planning permission and the council is the authority on both. Ask them before booking. We will work to whatever they tell you, and we would rather you asked than found out afterwards.
On appearance, two things do the work. The mesh is matched to your panels, black on black-framed panels and silver on older silver-framed ones, so it reads as part of the array rather than as something added to it. And it clips to the outer edge of the frame rather than standing proud of it, so the array keeps the outline it already had, with nothing screwed into the panels to achieve it. A check from ground level is part of every job.
York's solar falls into two camps: carefully positioned systems on older properties in and around the centre, many of them shaped by conservation-area planning, and higher-spec systems on the newer estates to the north and east. The first group is where bird mesh gets fiddly.
Chimney stacks, neighbouring gables and neighbouring rooflines. Arrays here were often placed around obstructions rather than laid out in a clean rectangle, which means a longer mesh perimeter, more corners where sections meet, and more filler pieces at the tile line. It is the same job, it takes longer.
Higher-spec systems, many running SolarEdge or Enphase, laid out conventionally on simpler roofs. Straightforward mesh work, and young enough that fitting it is usually preventative rather than a response to a nest already in place.
Many York homes run SolarEdge specifically because it handles partial shading well, and the shading in question comes from trees, chimney stacks and neighbouring rooflines. Those same obstructions are why a photograph or two before quoting saves everyone a wasted visit.
Two prices, split by the property rather than the array. Both include the array review below. York is standard coverage from our Leeds base and carries no travel charge.
Supplied and fitted. Mesh, stainless clips, existing nesting material cleared, gaps sealed at the tile line, and the array review.
Everything above, plus the scaffold, included rather than added on afterwards. A two-storey roof does not get worked on without one.
A complex period roofline with chimney stacks and gables gives a longer mesh perimeter and more corners than a plain rectangle, and heavy prior bird activity may need specialist clearance before mesh goes on. Both are quoted after photographs or a look at the roof, never on the day. The scaffold on a two-storey property is not one of the variables; it is already in the price, and we would rather charge for it than send an engineer up without it.
We fit EnviroGuard, a galvanised steel mesh with a PVC coating and a tighter aperture than the chicken wire a lot of cheaper jobs are done with. It is matched to your panels, black on black frames and silver on older silver ones, and it is clipped to the panel frame, never tek screwed into it. Screwing into the frame is quicker for the fitter and it voids your panel warranty, because it puts a hole through a sealed frame the manufacturer never sanctioned. If you are comparing quotes, ask what mesh they use and how they fix it.
Getting to the roof safely is the expensive part of any roof job, and on a York period property with an awkward roofline it is more expensive again. Once it is paid for, it would be a waste to staple mesh round the array and climb back down. Solar is meant to save you money, not cost it, and sealing a fault under new mesh does the opposite. Every install includes the following at no extra charge. That is the difference the price is paying for. We are not bird mesh fitters who happen to own a ladder, we are solar engineers, and while the access is up you get an engineer looking properly at your array instead of mesh being stapled over the top of it.
The important one. Factory connectors on the panel tails are rarely the problem; the ones an installer crimped on the roof are, and in our experience they are the main reason roof-mounted systems fail. We check every man-made MC4 is made off correctly, and where it is not we replace it, crimp it properly and tighten it. An array laid out around chimney stacks has more on-site joints than a plain rectangle does.
How the array was actually put on: rail alignment, bracket spacing, panel seating. Mid and end clamps are re-torqued across the array, because they work loose over years of thermal cycling and wind loading.
The mesh goes onto a clean array. Droppings, moss and grime come off while the access is there, which is the one time it can be done without paying for the access twice.
Where the DC cables pass through the roof they must be protected against mechanical abrasion. An unprotected entry works at the insulation every time the cable moves, and it takes years to show.
Cable should be supported off the roof, not resting on it. Cable lying on tiles chafes, holds water, and gives birds and squirrels something to pull at. Where we find it unsupported we tie it up properly.
Anything we can put right on the day is put right on the day. Anything larger is written up with photographs so you can decide, and we say plainly whether it needs doing now or can wait. If you would rather have the whole system assessed than the roof alone, that is a solar system health check.
The city of York and the surrounding villages, all within our standard coverage zone with the same pricing throughout. York sits about 40 minutes from our Leeds base.
Further out, Selby, Tadcaster, Malton and Pocklington are all within regular reach. Not listed? If you are in the York area, we cover you. Get in touch and we will confirm availability.
The full guide: what the mesh is, how it is fixed, what damage birds actually do, and the fitting process step by step.
Repair, diagnostics, maintenance, inverter replacement and battery work across the city and villages.
Supply, fit and commissioning, with the DNO paperwork handled as part of the job.
Our home city, where MC4 water ingress turns up on roughly one in three of the older arrays we inspect.
Bird mesh in the other areas we cover: Leeds · Bradford · east Manchester. The price split and the array review are the same everywhere; what changes is the housing stock and the access.
Tell us the property type, roughly how many panels, your postcode, and whether you are in a conservation area or the property is listed. We will confirm which price applies and quote it in writing.
Due to unprecedented demand we’re currently only carrying out on-site work in Yorkshire, and replies are taking up to 7 days. Remote diagnostics continue for the whole UK as normal.
Every message is read and answered, so please don’t send it twice; that only slows the queue.
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