Solar Panels

[mepot101]

Moved from here.

It never ceases to amaze me what I can find on this site!
I have the exact question that was asked by Cali brad, the only difference is I live in Central Florida.
The installers here don't want to put the panels on the north roof, like Dirk talked about.
I think some 'creative plumbing' could solve my space issues, but I don't know if the panels have to be stacked together, or if they can be spaced around on the available roof areas, and how much difference it makes to have a bit of distance between the panels?
I would probably need custom sized panels, don't know if anybody makes them to order by size???.
The pool guys here just want to install a heat pump and move on, no extra thinking involved.

 

[Ahultin]

Moved from here.

It never ceases to amaze me what I can find on this site!
I have the exact question that was asked by Cali brad, the only difference is I live in Central Florida.
The installers here don't want to put the panels on the north roof, like Dirk talked about.
I think some 'creative plumbing' could solve my space issues, but I don't know if the panels have to be stacked together, or if they can be spaced around on the available roof areas, and how much difference it makes to have a bit of distance between the panels?
I would probably need custom sized panels, don't know if anybody makes them to order by size???.
The pool guys here just want to install a heat pump and move on, no extra thinking involved.

You can definitely install them on different roof areas but if you do, you may need to install a manual drain down valve on some of the sections as if the plumbing has to go up and over a roof section part of the array will not auto drain. If your area does not get much freezing this should be no big deal.
As for sizes, the place I bought from sells varying lengths from 4x7 to 4x12 and 1x7 to 1x12.
Solar will likely be similar in upfront cost to a heat pump (though if you need to upgrade electrical service for the heatpump that could skew those numbers) but significantly lower operational costs.

 

[Dirk]

You can have multiple arrays of panels. @Ahultin mentioned one of the challenges, which is how they will drain. Another is how they will fill. It may not be obvious how that should occur, to you or the installers. I relied on the following website to explain many aspects of my system before I built it. They used to offer more info about how to plumb two arrays, but at the bottom of this page there is an animation that sort of describes it. Basically you want each array to be fed and to return on its own, not to have one feed the next.

And ideally each array should receive the same flow rate, so that each array receives and returns the same amount of water. That's so each is doing its equal share of the heating. It'll work fine if they don't, but you'll get more efficient heat exchange if they do. If possible the pipes to/from each array should be the same size and length and elevation, though that might not be possible, of course.

Plumbing a Solar Pool Heater | Hot Sun Solar Pool Heating

The basic concepts you must know to correctly plumb a solar pool heater.

www.h2otsun.com

 

[Dirk]

While it sounds like I had more willing installers to choose from than you do, I installed my system myself anyway. I had estimates in the $10K range. I did it for $3K (not counting my labor, of course). I taught myself how to do most of it, using the ol' google machine. But I did have a local installer that sold me everything I needed and helped me fill in the gaps of what I couldn't learn off the 'net.

So there's a chunk you need to know to do it correctly, but it really wasn't as hard as you might think. I'm confident my installation is at least as good as anyone could have done it, and I know I took a few extra steps that no other installer would have done, which made my system a bit more efficient than it would have been otherwise, and should make it last a bit longer, too.

As with most of my construction-related projects, I find doing them myself to be the best, and sometimes the only option. If you've got any DIY in ya, and want to explore the possibility of installing yourself, I'll help you as much as possible.