Does anyone know how warm solar mats of equal area to pool will keep a bubble covered pool in a central coast winter? Lompoc, Santa Maria, maybe Santa Barbara although it's warmer there.
solar heating in CA winter
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MSchutzer
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Maybe they will keep the pool in the 60 to 65 degree range, definitely not warm enough to swim in.
I'm in Redwood City (San Francisco Bay Area) and I have solar panels (about 85%) of the pool surface area and also keep the pool covered with a bubble cover all year round. Depending on the winter the panels will keep the pool warm until sometime in mid-October depending on when we get the first storm.
You are fighting a loosing battle in winter; not enough sun, sun angle too low, clouds, wind, and more importantly cold days and cold nights. In winter the pool drops into the low 60's even with the solar running.
There's just not enough heat gain in the days to overcome all the heat losses due to the cold weather.
Depending on the winter the panels will keep the pool above 80 from mid-March through mid-October. From May through September the solar will heat the pool to the 90's.
I'm in Redwood City (San Francisco Bay Area) and I have solar panels (about 85%) of the pool surface area and also keep the pool covered with a bubble cover all year round. Depending on the winter the panels will keep the pool warm until sometime in mid-October depending on when we get the first storm.
You are fighting a loosing battle in winter; not enough sun, sun angle too low, clouds, wind, and more importantly cold days and cold nights. In winter the pool drops into the low 60's even with the solar running.
There's just not enough heat gain in the days to overcome all the heat losses due to the cold weather.
Depending on the winter the panels will keep the pool above 80 from mid-March through mid-October. From May through September the solar will heat the pool to the 90's.
Well, that's good to know! I thought they would do more in winter. Thank you so much! I'm looking to put solar voltaic panels on the house and going all electric. That would mean switching out the gas pool/spa heater so I'm looking into that. Maybe I'll just do that and not bother with the mats.
I've got plenty of room for panels, and I'm going to get a big battery,. We get plenty of wind so researching wind turbines/propelers, but people say cities frown on them. Seems so practical and time tested but nobody does it. We'll see if I get shut down on that but I'm tenacious
Right now the city of Lompoc charges $.13/kwh for everything generated from your own panels and used. Not pulled from the grid, but that you produced & used yourself! That punishes you for using solar. Anything from the grid you get charged over and above that. At the end of the year, you get an insignificant reimbursement for any extra you put back into the grid so that doesn't help. So I'm thinking of going off grid completely. I just complained at the city council meeting and was told they MAY change policy after a year long rate study. They have their own electricity co-op so we don't get the CA incentives coming through the big companies like PG&E, etc.,. Even for the big companies, on the buy back they just passed a law reducing that a lot. That's what I know so far and you've helped a lot. Thanks again.
Jim
I've got plenty of room for panels, and I'm going to get a big battery,. We get plenty of wind so researching wind turbines/propelers, but people say cities frown on them. Seems so practical and time tested but nobody does it. We'll see if I get shut down on that but I'm tenacious
Right now the city of Lompoc charges $.13/kwh for everything generated from your own panels and used. Not pulled from the grid, but that you produced & used yourself! That punishes you for using solar. Anything from the grid you get charged over and above that. At the end of the year, you get an insignificant reimbursement for any extra you put back into the grid so that doesn't help. So I'm thinking of going off grid completely. I just complained at the city council meeting and was told they MAY change policy after a year long rate study. They have their own electricity co-op so we don't get the CA incentives coming through the big companies like PG&E, etc.,. Even for the big companies, on the buy back they just passed a law reducing that a lot. That's what I know so far and you've helped a lot. Thanks again.Jim
