Pool Solar - New Roof - Should I go East or West?

[Dabrodas]

Hey All!

I am getting a new roof on Monday and having a solar company rip down my existing, 6 panel, west facing solar panels. These panels were approximately 300-400ft away from the pool pump.

The technician just made a suggestion that for another ~$500, he would recommend adding 2 panels and moving the (now 8) panels to the East side of the house. This will make for about a 30-50 ft run, instead of the extremely long, 300ft run. His claim was that I can run my variable speed pump at a lower RPM to have the same heating effectiveness, but save on pump electricity & life span of the pump.

I live in Melbourne FL and we can typically use the pool starting March 1st, since the solar appears to work so well. Since it has worked so well on the west side, I am hesitant to change. Any thoughts or ideas I should consider?

Thanks!

 

[mas985]

With everything being equal (i.e. shading, tilt, etc), western exposures are usually always better than eastern exposures. This is because air temperatures in the afternoon are higher than in the morning which increases convective heat gain (or lower heat loss).

His claim was that I can run my variable speed pump at a lower RPM to have the same heating effectiveness, but save on pump electricity & life span of the pump.

The part about saving electricity is true but lower flow rates though solar panels results in lower heat transfer efficiency because the water in the panels becomes hotter and so heat loss increases.