i have a 24 foot, 52 inch tall round above ground pool i would like to heat using solar panels. placing the panels next to the pump and filter is impractical due to the lack of sunshine in that area.i have a 10 foot high south facing patio roof which receives nearly the entire days sunlight. i would like to create a stand alone system that uses a seperate pump to circulate the water up to this roof, back to the pool. i can provide the electrical needs for the pump.what size or type pump do you recommend for the job.i have an extra quarter horse sump pump available but would that be too much power.would one of those one eighth horse utility pumps do the job.what type and brand of panel do you suggest. the roof is about 14 feet by 14 feet so i cant use 2 by 20 panels.any plumbing advice would be great,i am not a good plumber.i will make a quick-connect system so i can remove the pipe going up to the roof when not in use.it would be an eyesore for the wife. i have posted a picture of the proposed patio roof. thank you paul
solar heating panels advice and suggestions
- Thread starter pberm1962
- Start date
Welcome to TFP!
You don't want to use a utility pump because they aren't certified as safe for pool use. You'd have to unplug it to use or work on the pool.
You want a large volume of water to pass through the panels. You will have two 1.5" or 2" pipes going up to the roof to make it work, and you will struggle to come up with hoses that can handle the weight of the water without being anchored to the house or poles.
I can't see any reason not to use your existing pool pump. PVC can be painted to match the siding making it fairly invisible. Much less trouble.
You don't want to use a utility pump because they aren't certified as safe for pool use. You'd have to unplug it to use or work on the pool.
You want a large volume of water to pass through the panels. You will have two 1.5" or 2" pipes going up to the roof to make it work, and you will struggle to come up with hoses that can handle the weight of the water without being anchored to the house or poles.
I can't see any reason not to use your existing pool pump. PVC can be painted to match the siding making it fairly invisible. Much less trouble.
n240sxguy
Well-known member
They make 10ft and 12ft panels that you could use instead of the 20ft ones. I can't speak of brand differences and quality because I haven't yet purchased solar.
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I would look for 3 of the 4'x12.5' panels as that would maximize your exposure given the size of the roof.
My thought is the same as Jason, get 3 4x12 panels, with this few panels you can get away with using 1.5 inch PVC for all your plumbing, if you use an independent booster pump, you will want to plumb it down stream of your filter as you only want filtered water going through the panels. Pay careful attention to the specs of the pump, particularly its head curve to make sure it will lift enough water up to the panel height, ideal flow is about 5 gpm per 4x12 panel, so 15+ gpm at higher than lift height to account for other sources of back pressure, I would look for a pump that would do over 15 GPM at 25 ft head or higherwhen used as booster pump.