What is a Solar Swimming Pool Water Heater?
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Probably the most cost-effective use of solar energy today is swimming pool heating. Early solar swimming pool heaters were made out of copper and had an outer layer of glass. This design proved costly and impractical, the copper corroding rapidly and byproducts staining the pool walls. Today solar powered swimming pool heaters are almost exclusively designed and manufactured along the same lines.
Solar panels form the main heat exchangers in the system. Solar panels are made of many parallel black polypropylene tubes joined together to form a mat or collector panel. Typically a panel will be about 12" wide and 10' long containing 25 or more parallel tubes. The number of panels used depends on the size of your pool - a 15' x 30' pool would probably have between 16 and 30 panels, depending on the size of your roof, if that is where it is to be installed. At the top and bottom of these panels the tubes are joined to a PVC pipe known as the collector. These pipes, in turn, are plumbed into the existing water circulation and filter system.
The existing pool pump is normally sufficiently powerful enough to pump water to the necessary height, but if not, a supplementary pump may be included in the system. Panels do not have to be positioned on the roof of your house - it is often most convenient to place them there as a convenient way of saving space. The panels may be mounted on a conveniently placed sloping plywood fixture in your garden if necessary. It is most important that, in the northern hemisphere, collector panels should be facing south, maximizing the amount of sun falling upon them.
Whereas one is probably quite capable of installing a solar pool heater oneself, and some kits come with full instructions to do so including a video, it is probably a better idea to have the professional from whom you purchased it install it. This way you will have a guarantee that the work has been done correctly. Solar collectors are expected to have a life span of 15 - 20 years. When you contact your solar pool heating representative to get that initial quotation, always have the dimensions of the pool as well as the flow rate of your pump handy, for you can be sure these will be the first questions he will ask you.