Solar Panel For Swimming Pool

How To Make Your Pool An Energy Smart Pool

As the temperature required is quite low - under 30°, most swimming pool solar panel installers will recommend flat plates to keep the price down.

This is because you will require more panels than for heating domestic hot water.

However, if you can buy a high efficiency evacuated tube solar panel for the same money, you might as well because you will then have solar heated pool water for a greater proportion of the year, instead of just in July and August!

If you use flat plates, a method of working out what you need is to purchase panels the equivalent of 50% of the pool's surface area.

For vacuum tube panels, this is reduced to 25%-35% (depending on type of pool, level of insulation, pool covers, indoor/outdoor, above/below ground level etc). And of course, they will carry on working in the autumn, winter and spring.

Obviously, if you get a qualified installer to fit the panels then he will be able to advise you. But if you are purchasing a diy solar pool heater then you will need to work this out for yourself.

Here in the UK, our solar panel for swimming pools are 2.25m2 so (working on the 25% coverage figure) each panel will heat 11m2 of pool area. A 40m2 pool would only need 4 panels.

Compare this to the cost of heating a pool for a year! A solar water heater for pools is cost effective. Large pool installations can pay for themselves in under 18 months! And like I said before, with a diy pool solar heater, installation is very simple. However, I would always suggest that you bring in an experienced professional if you are unsure about what you're doing.

If you have chlorine you will need to fit a stainless steel heat exchanger (this is because chlorine causes copper to corrode).

These are available from pool suppliers. If you don't have chlorine, you can simply put the solar panel in-line with the pool filter, so that the pump directs water through the panel before returning it to the pool.

As the solar pool heater will NOT radiate heat on cold days, heat losses will be confined to your pipe runs only - so you do not necessarily need a controller.

A solar panel for swimming pools is both cost effective and environmentally friendly. So why not make your pool an energy smart pool? You know it makes sense.