Using solar panels as UV meters

[Poolnerdgrandma]

I'm dialing in my SWG, and coincidentally was looking at the solar energy app. It maps the electricity produced every day, which should be closely correlated to UV.
I'm thinking of putting the data into a spreadsheet and using it to help keep the SWG dialed in.
Has anyone done this?

 

[Bperry]

I'm dialing in my SWG, and coincidentally was looking at the solar energy app. It maps the electricity produced every day, which should be closely correlated to UV.
I'm thinking of putting the data into a spreadsheet and using it to help keep the SWG dialed in.
Has anyone done this?

I’ll be honest, it sounds like a lot more work than just turning the SWG up when FC starts drifting below the target and turning it down once it starts climbing above target. But if you have the time for that kinda thing, go for it.

 

[Newdude]

It would be neat to see if they did correlate, or if cloud cover affected one more than the other.

 

[reggiehammond]

UV + Water Temperature + Environmental .... I suppose it's doable, but likely going to require a lot of work and trial and error.

 

[JoyfulNoise]

UV + Water Temperature + Environmental .... I suppose it's doable, but likely going to require a lot of work and trial and error.

Agreed. You’d need to track about a years worth of data in order to get a good sense of the inflection points. Then you’d have starting points for when to turn up or down the SWG.

 

[1poolman1]

I'm dialing in my SWG, and coincidentally was looking at the solar energy app. It maps the electricity produced every day, which should be closely correlated to UV.
I'm thinking of putting the data into a spreadsheet and using it to help keep the SWG dialed in.
Has anyone done this?

Would also have to input all CYA readings. Or, just let it do its job of protecting against the UVA and UVB that affect the pool chlorine levels.
Might be interesting, though.

 

[hexabc]

This is a very hard problem to solve - it's a case of predictive control but with no inside into the future. To have a shot at getting a usable solution, you would need to incorporate the weather forecast.

 

[hexabc]

This is a very hard problem to solve - it's a case of predictive control but with no inside into the future. To have a shot at getting a usable solution, you would need to incorporate the weather forecast.

Perhaps I didn't understand your intention, which is just collecting data as a basis to manually dial in your SWCG, right?