recommendations for solar panel heating system and solar blanket
- Thread starter tateland
- Start date
Need help! just starting out researching solar I’m interested in the ground rack style next to the pool. What brand seems to be good quality?
How big are the panels?
Assuming your pool already gets sunlight most or all of the day, the general rule of thumb is you need at least 50% of the area of the pool to make a noticeable difference in temp, with more being better and 100% being a better target for general pool season extension.
For a 16' x 12' pool, that's 192 square feet. 50% is 96, which I'll round to 100. The on ground panels I've seen are usually 2' x 20', which is 40 square feet. They also come in 4' x 20', or 80 square feet. Two 4' x 20' would be 160 square feet, or 83% of your pool surface area. Three of the 2' x 20' would give you 120 square feet, or 63%. One 4' x 20' and one 2' x 20' would also give 120 square feet or 63%.
Do you have room for 2 or 3 on ground panels to sit without them shading each other?
I can't answer your questions on quality though.
Assuming your pool already gets sunlight most or all of the day, the general rule of thumb is you need at least 50% of the area of the pool to make a noticeable difference in temp, with more being better and 100% being a better target for general pool season extension.
For a 16' x 12' pool, that's 192 square feet. 50% is 96, which I'll round to 100. The on ground panels I've seen are usually 2' x 20', which is 40 square feet. They also come in 4' x 20', or 80 square feet. Two 4' x 20' would be 160 square feet, or 83% of your pool surface area. Three of the 2' x 20' would give you 120 square feet, or 63%. One 4' x 20' and one 2' x 20' would also give 120 square feet or 63%.
Do you have room for 2 or 3 on ground panels to sit without them shading each other?
I can't answer your questions on quality though.
- Oct 25, 2015
- 5,234
- Pool Size
- 25000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- CircuPool RJ-60 Plus
T,
To properly design site information is required as well as specific information about your environmental conditions such as sun angle, % cloud covert etc. My example may or may not be applicable for yours. My pool is a little larger as you can see from my signature information below. That said:
I have 9-4X12 plus 1 2X12 panels. Mine are Aquatherm but there are at least 3 major manufacturers. If you're having them professionally designed require bidders to size plus provide expected performance. Make sure you compare how much you're paying per sq ft and comparing performance projections. If you're installing yourself you can get design data from each panel supplier. I would expect you could call them for help if needed. Another high quality brand is Heliocoil. They offer 12 year warranty which appears to be standard and some less expensive brands that I looked at offer 10 years. Also look at repair procedures. The panels I have offer a simple repair procedure that allows you to very simply plug individual tubes that fail without replacing the entire panel. I asked my installer to add a 2' panel so I have a little extra area. This will allow me to plug a tube and have negligible reduction in performance. After I end up plugging tubes too often I'll replace the panels.
Also, if you don't have a VS pump this is a great time to consider one. It will not only pay for itself it will also dramatically improve solar net benefit on cloudy days. You'll be able to set it up to run at high speed only when you need the extra flow. This will benefit you with ground level or roof level.
I hope this helps and good luck!
Chris
To properly design site information is required as well as specific information about your environmental conditions such as sun angle, % cloud covert etc. My example may or may not be applicable for yours. My pool is a little larger as you can see from my signature information below. That said:
I have 9-4X12 plus 1 2X12 panels. Mine are Aquatherm but there are at least 3 major manufacturers. If you're having them professionally designed require bidders to size plus provide expected performance. Make sure you compare how much you're paying per sq ft and comparing performance projections. If you're installing yourself you can get design data from each panel supplier. I would expect you could call them for help if needed. Another high quality brand is Heliocoil. They offer 12 year warranty which appears to be standard and some less expensive brands that I looked at offer 10 years. Also look at repair procedures. The panels I have offer a simple repair procedure that allows you to very simply plug individual tubes that fail without replacing the entire panel. I asked my installer to add a 2' panel so I have a little extra area. This will allow me to plug a tube and have negligible reduction in performance. After I end up plugging tubes too often I'll replace the panels.
Also, if you don't have a VS pump this is a great time to consider one. It will not only pay for itself it will also dramatically improve solar net benefit on cloudy days. You'll be able to set it up to run at high speed only when you need the extra flow. This will benefit you with ground level or roof level.
I hope this helps and good luck!
Chris
