Pool Heater and Solar Panels

meatyor

Gold Supporter
Jun 27, 2024
111
Apex, NC
Pool Size
23000
Surface
Vinyl
Chlorine
Salt Water Generator
SWG Type
Pentair Intellichlor IC-40
I’m curious if any members have solar panels, and if so, does that allow them to run a pool heater essentially free of heavy electricity bills?

We have a great house for solar panels, and have been considering the investment. Then of course my mind went to, but how could it make my pool better? 😂
I realize this is probably more of a solar panel question, but any thoughts would be appreciated!
 
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Your question is unclear. Are you considering photovoltaic or thermal panels? Photovoltaic will provide electric power to your house. Thermal will provide heat to your water. Both depend on the weather, of course. Do you have an electric heater for the pool, i.e., a heat pump?
 
Your question is unclear. Are you considering photovoltaic or thermal panels? Photovoltaic will provide electric power to your house. Thermal will provide heat to your water. Both depend on the weather, of course. Do you have an electric heater for the pool, i.e., a heat pump?
Photovoltaic, providing electricity to the home.

I currently do not own a heater for the pool, and I’m wondering if solar panels would offset the cost.

Ie
(Fake numbers) A heater costs $90/month, but with solar panels it runs on the energy my home would already be harvesting.
 
I'm an engineer and always heavily research any significant purchase I'm about to make. installing solar panels simply doesn't make sense. Most solar systems are in excess of $20K. The ROI is in excess of 25 years, and in that time any number of things can happen. You can have equipment fail, damage from a storm, need the roof replaced, or you may even move. And having solar will not increase your resale value.

Some quick things to know that installers won't tell you:
  • Panels lose 10-20% of their effectiveness in the first two years of use. Calculations should always be made using 80% output, not 100%.
  • If you need your roof replaced, you'll have to pay to have the solar panels removed, and then pay to have them replaced. Some roofers will offer this service at a fee, but many won't.
  • The power has to be fed into your power company's grid - it doesn't go directly to your home. You sell power to them, then buy it back to use it.
  • Check to see if your power company is a co-op. It if is, they don't have to buy the power at the same rate as they sell it. Non co-op's have regulations in place so they have to pay the same as their sell rate. In my case, I have a co-op. They charge me $0.12 for electricity but only pay $0.09 to buy if from me.
  • There is usually a fee to belong to a co-op power company. In my case it's about $30/month or $1/day.
 
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I'm an engineer and always heavily research any significant purchase I'm about to make. installing solar panels simply doesn't make sense. Most solar systems are in excess of $20K. The ROI is in excess of 25 years, and in that time any number of things can happen. You can have equipment fail, damage from a storm, need the roof replaced, or you may even move. And having solar will not increase your resale value.

Some quick things to know that installers won't tell you:
  • Panels lose 10-20% of their effectiveness in the first two years of use. Calculations should always be made using 80% output, not 100%.
  • If you need your roof replaced, you'll have to pay to have the solar panels removed, and then pay to have them replaced. Some roofers will offer this service at a fee, but many won't.
  • The power has to be fed into your power company's grid - it doesn't go directly to your home. You sell power to them, then buy it back to use it.
  • Check to see if your power company is a co-op. It if is, they don't have to buy the power at the same rate as they sell it. Non co-op's have regulations in place so they have to pay the same as their sell rate. In my case, I have a co-op. They charge me $0.12 for electricity but only pay $0.09 to buy if from me.
  • There is usually a fee to belong to a co-op power company. In my case it's about $30/month or $1/day.
Thanks PoolBrews, that gives me a lot to consider. Sounds like I’ll have to do a lot more research on solar. Appreciate it!
 
I've had 100 people knock on my door wanting to lease me the panels they install and maintain. It's the middle of the road option between owning your own panels and not having panels.

One guy was particularly pushy when I told him if I went that route i would own them instead of leasing. He listed the reasons PoolBrews said above as to why it would be a stupid idea for me to install my own panels. So I asked the guy why they were good for him but not for me. 'Seriously Bruh. If its such a stupid idea, why are you begging to do it ? You're the 12th *you* this month'.

I got no answer and he watched the door close.
 
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Lots of things to consider when deciding whether PV solar is right for your situation, I recommend you do that research on PV solar forums not pool forums :rolleyes:.

This forum can provide good advice on solar water heating, which is much cheaper to install. It won't be much help during the winter, but definitely extends the pool use during the shoulder seasons (spring/fall). We had a solar pool system installed two summers ago, the cost was around $4k and it took one day to install. We're happy campers.
 
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I debated posting a response but the amount of misinformation made my brain hurt so here goes
Lots of things to consider when deciding whether PV solar is right for your situation, I recommend you do that research on PV solar forums not pool forums :rolleyes:.
100% ☝️
Most solar systems are in excess of $20K. The ROI is in excess of 25 year
This is very area dependant. We were early adopters (so we paid about double after 50% rebate and tax credits what a comparable system would cost today) and installed our pv system in 2005. Our savings hit equal to install cost between year 11-12. Today in CA due to the shift to net metering 3, it is estimated at about the same 12yrs due to the almost requirement to install a battery storage sysrem
You can have equipment fail, damage from a storm
Anything electrical can fail but this doesn't stop it's install. Because of the capital outlay for pv solar the electronics and panels are warrantied a min of 10yrs. Storm damage is typically covered by homeowners insurance just like most other storm damage subject to your deductible.
In our case at year 16 we had to replace 1 inverter at a cost of ~1700. It could have been done for ~1200 but I opted to install a larger inverter so as to support additional production from several panel replacements (our panels are 167 watt, while a modern panel of the same size will produce 400 watts) utilizing the same racking.
need the roof replaced
This is true for a roof mount system which is why a legitimate solar contractor will not install on a roof with less than 20yrs of remaining economic life. In additional they will warranty any penetrations for a minimum of 10yrs. If you have the room, this is completely mitigated by a ground mount system. Our system was ground mounted due to the shape/pitch/orientation of our roof. At install the ground mount racking added less than 10% to our system cost.
And having solar will not increase your resale value
The appraisal standards of fhfa who set guidelines for fnma, fhlmc, fha and va all assign a value to Owned solar panels of ~10,000 in home value for every ~$1000 in expected annual power production
Panels lose 10-20% of their effectiveness in the first two years of use
All tier 1 panel manufacturers warranty a degradation rate of no more than 10% over the first 10yrs . Solar panels typically experience a gradual decline in power output, with an average annual loss of around 0.5% to 0.8% per year
If you need your roof replaced, you'll have to pay to have the solar panels removed, and then pay to have them replaced. Some roofers will offer this service at a fee, but many won't.
This is true
The power has to be fed into your power company's grid - it doesn't go directly to your home. You sell power to them, then buy it back to use it.
You use the power your panels produce as it is being produced- any excess production is fed back into the grid and effectively sold to the power company to be sold back to you in the evening when the panels are no longer producing. This too can be mitigated by the installation of a power wall which had fallen significantly in price over the years.
There is usually a fee to belong to a co-op power company. In my case it's about $30/month or $1/day.
This is true and very area specific. There is generally a min monthly fee to be connected to the grid which must be considered in your roi calculation.