Adding a solar heater questions....

[aqualicious]

We are thinking of purchasing 2 Enersol 4x10 solar panels just to get a bit of extra heat for our 21ft round pool. Our water currently fluctuates between 72-76 with the solar blanket on most of the time. A bit chilly especially with the crappy weather we've been having.

The only place we can really add solar is on our shed which gets full all day sun (the pool gets noon to sundown sun). The roof has a slight slope. It is 11 feet wide and slopes down just under 6 feet each side, so we are very limited in what we can put up. Is it okay to install these panels horizontally? In the on-line installation video they are installed vertically. If we can, Is there a proper way to connect everything this way and using each slope of a roof?

We have a 1HP 2 speed pump. Is this strong enough? Our pump and filter will be about 20 ft away and then go up a 4 foot slope and then up to the shed roof which is about 7-8 feet high.

Any help with this before we start would be appreciated. thanks

 

[JohnT]

I had also considered the Enersol panels, but after seeing the ratings at the Florida Solar Energy Center
http://www.fsec.ucf.edu/en/industry/testing/STcollectors/pool_ratings/tprpoolap.htm I went with the Aquasol panels, since I was limited on space too. The ratings for the Enersol panels were 814BTU/ft-sq/day, while the Aquasol panels (and most others) were rated at 1000BTU/ft-sq/day. I have never found any description of their test conditions, and I guess it is possible that the best panel in Florida is not the best panel in AB.

Some panels are marketed for horizontal installation, and I believe those are primarily marketed as AG panels. They have a partial plug in the header to force water to run down half the panel and back through the other half. Sungrabber is one maker of these type panels. These are usually sold as 20ft panels though.

Your pump should handle it well.

Can you give a better description of the shed roof? Is it a gable roof, with each half 11X6?

 

[aqualicious]

Thanks for the reply

My husband decided to go for more square footage on the house roof installation instead of the shed. Now we have 160 sq. ft and could add on in the future if need be.

Now hopefully he doesn't fall off the roof!

Where we live there is very little selection. Sunheater, (which all the store speak negatively about), enersol and I've seen solar bear available on-line. The enersol seem to be made of high quality and can be left on all year round apparently. Along with our solar blanket....I Hope they work.

 

[JohnT]

Where we live there is very little selection. Sunheater, (which all the store speak negatively about), enersol and I've seen solar bear available on-line. The enersol seem to be made of high quality and can be left on all year round apparently. Along with our solar blanket....I Hope they work.

I was impressed with the Enersol quality as well.