- Oct 18, 2009
- 3,638
- Pool Size
- 6000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Hayward Aqua Rite (T-15)
Well I finally bit the bullet and had a solar system installed with some tax refund money :-D . Thanks to valuable info found here at TFP and advice from chemgeek, polyvue , no-mas , lborne, lee23903and mas985 and others as this is a valuable forum so I hope that my small contribution would be helpful to others. I decided to not peruse as a DIY as I know my limitations and I am not very good at plumbing
, nor do I have very extensive electrical knowledge
, and the thought of putting holes in my roof :grrrr: , to besides knowing my luck I would fall off the roof and break/ injure myself and would be out of work for several weeks,(Who would pay the bills then
), just did not make too much sense to me
. That is why we have professional solar installers and I hope that my small contribution will keep some people in business and food on the table for their families during these very challenging times
.
We had quotes from Fafco, Aquatherm, and Helicol and we chose to go with Aquatherm because we liked him, (somehow we just clicked) , he came out on a weekend, and he was the only Dealer/ Installer that would provide a written transferable lifetime warranty on top of the 20yr warranty for the panels and hardware and a transferable lifetime warranty against roof leaks/ repairs from the solar installation.
Please note that I was amazed at the level of professionalism displayed from his installers and the attention to detail. I will try to be as accurate as possible with the materials used and post before, during and after pics. I hope this is helpful to others and enjoy. I welcome all comments
.
Solar Description :
- 3- 4 x 12 ft Aquatherm panels ( 144 sq ft)
- 2 – 2 x 12 ft panels ( 48 sq ft)
- Total of 192 sq ft
- 20 yr warranty with 12 yr full replacement/ repair on panels and hardware
- Installer to cover transferrable lifetime warranty on panels and transferrable lifetime warranty on roof leaks
- Gl-235 Goldline controller, 3 yr warranty
- 2 – Jandy valves
- 1- One way valve
- Marine exhaust hose to connect panels
- Approx 180 ft of black 2 inch PVC
- Approx 20 ft of white 2 inch PVC
- Approx 24 -90deg black elbows, 10- 90 deg elbows
- 8 aluminum clamps holding headers, these are usually screwed into the rafters however my rafters were horizontal so they had to get into the attic and place backing 2 x 4 blocks for the bolts to screw into.
- approx 34 SS clamps for pipes,
- Coated SS flat strapping to hold panels
- Ability to withstand 150mph winds
- System wired to automatically turn on and off when it senses ability to heat, it must sense a 4 degree difference between air temp and pool water temp. Air temp sensor is mounted on the top header.
- Running psi went from 18 to 21/22 on the sand filter
- Pool temp increase from 61 to 69 running the solar for 3 hrs ( 4pm to 7pm) after install, outside temp high was 72deg, Sun not directly shining on panels.
- Roof orientation is 140 deg facing East South East, not the most optimum placement however this is the best place per the installer. Panels cannot be seen from the street, a good thing for aesthetics.
![hammer :hammer: :hammer:](/images/smilies/hammer.gif)
![Whoot :whoot: :whoot:](/images/smilies/woot2_106.gif)
![Party :party: :party:](/images/smilies/party.gif)
We had quotes from Fafco, Aquatherm, and Helicol and we chose to go with Aquatherm because we liked him, (somehow we just clicked) , he came out on a weekend, and he was the only Dealer/ Installer that would provide a written transferable lifetime warranty on top of the 20yr warranty for the panels and hardware and a transferable lifetime warranty against roof leaks/ repairs from the solar installation.
Please note that I was amazed at the level of professionalism displayed from his installers and the attention to detail. I will try to be as accurate as possible with the materials used and post before, during and after pics. I hope this is helpful to others and enjoy. I welcome all comments
![Cheers :cheers: :cheers:](/images/smilies/cheers.gif)
![Cheers :cheers: :cheers:](/images/smilies/cheers.gif)
Solar Description :
- 3- 4 x 12 ft Aquatherm panels ( 144 sq ft)
- 2 – 2 x 12 ft panels ( 48 sq ft)
- Total of 192 sq ft
- 20 yr warranty with 12 yr full replacement/ repair on panels and hardware
- Installer to cover transferrable lifetime warranty on panels and transferrable lifetime warranty on roof leaks
- Gl-235 Goldline controller, 3 yr warranty
- 2 – Jandy valves
- 1- One way valve
- Marine exhaust hose to connect panels
- Approx 180 ft of black 2 inch PVC
- Approx 20 ft of white 2 inch PVC
- Approx 24 -90deg black elbows, 10- 90 deg elbows
- 8 aluminum clamps holding headers, these are usually screwed into the rafters however my rafters were horizontal so they had to get into the attic and place backing 2 x 4 blocks for the bolts to screw into.
- approx 34 SS clamps for pipes,
- Coated SS flat strapping to hold panels
- Ability to withstand 150mph winds
- System wired to automatically turn on and off when it senses ability to heat, it must sense a 4 degree difference between air temp and pool water temp. Air temp sensor is mounted on the top header.
- Running psi went from 18 to 21/22 on the sand filter
- Pool temp increase from 61 to 69 running the solar for 3 hrs ( 4pm to 7pm) after install, outside temp high was 72deg, Sun not directly shining on panels.
- Roof orientation is 140 deg facing East South East, not the most optimum placement however this is the best place per the installer. Panels cannot be seen from the street, a good thing for aesthetics.
![SIOCicW.jpg](http://i.imgur.com/SIOCicW.jpg)
![f7pG3xp.jpg](http://i.imgur.com/f7pG3xp.jpg)
![2dE35aM.jpg](http://i.imgur.com/2dE35aM.jpg)
![LFa8Drv.jpg](http://i.imgur.com/LFa8Drv.jpg)
![P64gN1Z.jpg](http://i.imgur.com/P64gN1Z.jpg)
![am4Im1R.jpg](http://i.imgur.com/am4Im1R.jpg)
![NBO0THf.jpg](http://i.imgur.com/NBO0THf.jpg)
![gAtSmuD.jpg](http://i.imgur.com/gAtSmuD.jpg)
![EVQGSPf.jpg](http://i.imgur.com/EVQGSPf.jpg)