Solar pool pump solar heating auto on/off questions

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M

Malster1

0
Feb 22, 2015
11
Pacifica, CA
First off thanks again on my last thread about DYI pool heaters, which I am moving away from as it didn't perform like everyone here informed me after I started the project. Admin's if you feel i posted in the wrong catagory, please feel free to move it and thanks for al lthe help.

Pool newbie, kind of. Second year with AGP. Upgraded to a intex 18"x 48" round pool for this summer. A about where I am and how I want to try to set this all up. I'm on the coast by Sf in CA. The avg temp is around 60-68, but summers can be nice in the low 80's. The goal it to make the pool as warm as possiable using solor heater. (getting a gas/electric heater is not really an option (well the costs are a big factor).

I have good sun exposure all day long in yard and a shed about 15' away that's 20' long by 10' (about 5' each side with a skylight on the sunnest side) and my house roof is across the patio about 20' away. I am currently running the upgraded Intex Saltwater filter system that says 2500gph. I purchased a 1HP used pinnicale pool pump that came with a aywaard filter system and am hoping to plumb this to run the solar heaters (I need to pick them still, more below). I also purchased the hayward skimmer box (not installed yet), and I have a 12 mil clear solar blanket.

So I am hoping I can run a 1.5" pipe from the reurn side of the filter to the roof of either my shed or house and run x2 2' x 20' panels and then back to the pool to maximize as much heat I can get from the sun. The first issue I'm trying to figure out is this, How to control when the pump comes on/off it's warm enough and not run when it's too cold. I have seen many heater controllers out there, but those seems to only work with a diverter and not to actually turn the pump on and off. I was thinking of 2 systems, becuase there are stretches of days when it's not warm enough and I don't wantto not have my filter run. Also I can't just replace my main filter as it's has the build in saltwater generator.

I thought about just getting ground panels and using the diverter fro mthe intex pool pump, but then someone has to manually switch it on and off (agian I'm not home most days hours and the wife may forget to switch it back and forth thus causing it to cool the pool instead.

Solar panels, Been looking at on roof on ground panels and even the ebay ones. So many options, so little time. Open to suggstions. also most say one 2' x 20' panel is all that is needd for a 18' round pool, so if I double it, would I get double the heat to the pool 9or at least an extra 50% heat?

Any and all comments or suggestion are welcome. The wife wants me to get crackin on the heater.

Thnak you everyone and sorry for the long post.
 
Yes, two panels makes more heat than one panel, maybe not quite double but more than 50% more. My Pentair Solartouch has a sensor on the roof by the panels and a sensor in the water, when solar heat is available it opens the solar valve to send water to the panels and changes my pump speed from 1100 rpm to 1950 rpm. Pump is already running. There are pics of my solar panels and plumbing in my build thread in my sig.

The Hayward GL-235 works much the same way. The key though is the water temp sensor working properly with no water flow.

Stolen from another of Isaac's posts:
The key to get it to work is placement of the temperature sensors, if you place the pool temperature sensor in a pipe at the plumbing pad with the pump off and pipe in the sunlight it will likely read higher than it really is. So instead you either need some flow past the pool temperature sensor in the pipe, or have it where it gets a good reading on the bulk of the pool water, such as the skimmer (which may be a bit warmer than the rest of the pool, but will be close).
 
Thanks for the feedback so far. The issues is I need a controller to actually turn the pump on (dedicated to the solar) and the pentair and Hayward GL-235 only control the valve to route the water.

Thanks for the info on the 2 panels vs. 1.
 
Heat gain by solar panels is directly proportional to surface area so 2 panels should generate exactly twice the heat if they are put in parallel and assuming a proper installation. In series it might be a little less than twice the heat because there is a little more heat loss in that case.
 
my solar controller, aquasun 3, australian model so wont help you
anyway it turns pump on at a time set by you for 5 minutes and checks pool temp and roof temp
then either keeps running if solar heating available, or turns off for another 2 hours if roof too cold,
then re-samples water and repeats until pool at chosen temp or until your chosen turn off time
 
Thanks for the feedback on that. That is a nice feature, I don't see it available in the US. Maybe Hayward and Pentair will read this and take note.
 
Thanks everyone of the feedback. Sounds like for me US over here I need to look at the GL-235 and buy to panels and ru the in parallel. It was nice in the 80's on Monday, and now raining today. The pool temp was around 78-80 with my DYI small 500' 1/2 hose running on a temp sensor and solar blanket was enough at least for Monday's kids dip. Can't wait to get a really system up and running.
 

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