Solar panels

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You're pool is larger than mine and you are in a much colder climate so it really depends on what you expect to gain from solar. I bought 280 sq ft on my southern exposure roof in FL which is sized a little large for my pool. In the summer I can get about 7-8 degrees warmer in a day (but FL summer is blisteringly hot) In the winter it's more like 4-6. The thing with solar is it won't do you much good unless you combine it with a cover at night. I spent almost 4K but I didn't shop that around too much and had everything including the controller added.

On the roof it depends on the head of your system and the height of the roof. My 1 story would be fine with 1.5 but I bought a 3HP because I wanted to have extra power available and the price difference wasn't much at the time. I can't comment on the link you have but for that price I wouldn't expect much. Try getting a cover (and probably reel) 1st you will be amazed how much heat that will save you by itself.
 
Thanks Tim. I can't do 4K for it, so I'm looking cheap. I don't need 6 degrees a day, just a couple will help. I do have the solar cover, and I know how much it helps. I've thought about the homemade route, but I just can't see how that would be effective.
 
I've seen some pretty interesting setups with solar on this forum, hopefully others will respond. There are some nice panels that can be found on ebay or amazon if you are able to put everything together yourself. I just paid someone to do everything so I think I paid a lot by comparison.
 
Solar heat is all about surface area. You need to figure out where you are willing to put the panels and then maximize the usage of that space. You should shoot for at least half the square footage of you pool in panels (280 sqft). Ideally you would have the same square footage of panels as the foot print of your pool (560 sqft). The panels on amazon and ebay are a good place to start but while they keep the price of the panels down there is still a lot of parts and plumbing to get.

By the time you get all the panels, plumbing, and controllers wired up you should expect to be between 1000-2000 in parts.

The most common place to put the panels is on the roof, but a ground mount rack is another option if your yard works for that. I've got mine rack mounted. This setup cost me around 1k only 300 of that was the panels themselves. These are the panels you see on amazon for around 200 for 80 sqft ( two 2' x 20' panels ).
 

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A solar controller is what I am referring to. They cost around 250 dollars and consist of a control box, some temperature sensors, and an automated valve. It controls the flow of water to your solar panels, meaning that it sends water to them when the sun has made them warm and shuts water off when there is no heat in the panels. Solar controllers keep you from losing heat back out thru your panels, because solar panels work really well to cool your pool down if the sun isn't on them.
 
CJadamec,

When you were deciding where to mount those panels, did you consider making a shade structure or something that would overhang your playground, for example?

I'm thinking of mounting mine over the equipment pad, which would both protect the pad equipment along with not taking any ground real estate. But I have no idea how heavy these panels (2 4x10s is what I'm thinking) are with water flowing through them.
 
All told the panels full of water are probably less than 200 lbs. The rack they are sitting on is far heavier than the panels.

Can't say that I really considered mounting them up high. Where they are is already too sloped to be useful. Building them up higher would have just cost a lot more money in framing. To make a rack sturdy enough to hold up that much sail area would take a pretty sturdy frame. As it is the rack is framed in 2x6 and sheathed in 1/2inch pt plywood.

It's also 7ft wide by about 22 ft long.
 
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