If you live near trees (assuming since you have solar you are unlikely to have them overhanging) you may spend a lot of time up on the roof clearing out leaf and twig debris from the mesh. Our house had ‘gutterguard’ mesh on all the gutters when we purchased it. It caused a lot more problems than it prevented and was a pain to keep free of debris. When we were considering mesh around our panels, the stuff used would have trapped debris in the same way. I’d also want to know if it was safe to have a lot of dry debris building up around the panels.
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Sounds rather expensive.
The resistance to critter damage depends mainly on the thickness of the wires and the design, not so much the material. Welded intersections are stronger than woven for the same material. The material will more determine the resistance to chemical damage, such as from pollution or salt spray.
Apart from the material I would be asking how it will be fastened and the size of the mesh with such a wide range of quotes. Much of SS mesh is aimed at excluding birds or insects which is not your problem. If you have a normal sort of number of panels I don’t see how $300 would even come close taking into account materials and labour.
I take your point, but a) I have used this guy before, and have regard for his knowledge and reliability, and b) I’m using SS because I am not far from the ocean, and the panel brackets are also SS. I can’t really foresee a possum persisting in getting through the mesh, but if that happens (might send a drone up to have a look!) I can revisit.
Check which alloy it is, stainless steel is not one alloy. Some genuine stainless steels are not resistant to salt, as it changes the chemistry.
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