- Jan 4, 2016
- 5,289
- Pool Size
- 44000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
Solar heating panels designed for the job allow more water to flow. The poly tubing, even after splitting into 6 parallel loops, will require about 10 gallons per minute to flow through each loop for around 170 feet. So the drawback is that you can't push as much water, and the surface area exposed to the sun is relatively small. If it's 1" poly pipe, 1000 feet has an exposed surface area of under 100 square feet, and if the pool was, say, 400 square feet, then you're under 25% of pool surface area when you'd like to be around 2/3 or more.
By the way, there's still plenty of DIY to do for mounting and plumbing purpose-designed panels, so plenty of opportunity to save some money and do it better than many installers might. Ike mentioned the unnecessary sensor on the return water. The other thing missing is a vacuum relief valve to relieve the suction pressure on the system when it's not running.
I went with a 1/2 HP dedicated pump and it's a simple way to run the system, but there's also every chance you can do it with your pool pump. To get the most from solar, you need to automate it. Controllers are simple, just measuring pool temp and roof temp, so the system runs whenever it's going to achieve heating, up to whatever maximum pool temp you set. The controller will operate either a three-way valve with electric actuator or a dedicated pump. For me, there was little difference in cost between a dedicated pump and a three-way valve with an actuator, so it made sense for me.
This manual is from Australia so it won't match up for you, but it's well written and covers solar heating pretty well.
http://www.ecoonline.com.au/content/manuals/oku_solar_pool_heating_install_manual.pdf
By the way, there's still plenty of DIY to do for mounting and plumbing purpose-designed panels, so plenty of opportunity to save some money and do it better than many installers might. Ike mentioned the unnecessary sensor on the return water. The other thing missing is a vacuum relief valve to relieve the suction pressure on the system when it's not running.
I went with a 1/2 HP dedicated pump and it's a simple way to run the system, but there's also every chance you can do it with your pool pump. To get the most from solar, you need to automate it. Controllers are simple, just measuring pool temp and roof temp, so the system runs whenever it's going to achieve heating, up to whatever maximum pool temp you set. The controller will operate either a three-way valve with electric actuator or a dedicated pump. For me, there was little difference in cost between a dedicated pump and a three-way valve with an actuator, so it made sense for me.
This manual is from Australia so it won't match up for you, but it's well written and covers solar heating pretty well.
http://www.ecoonline.com.au/content/manuals/oku_solar_pool_heating_install_manual.pdf