Solar Swimming Pool Heating Systems
Solar swimming pool heating systems (SSWPH) are one of the most economical solar applications to install, maintain, and present the most energy savings of any solar application.
SSWPH systems are very effective in heating residential and commercial seasonal use pools. It is most common to use an un-glazed collector for economy and durability. The typical collector is polypropylene plastic with UV inhibitors and temperature stabilizers.
Dawson’s Home Specialties, Inc. installs Heliocol brand collectors for economy and durability. For more information, please visit the Heliocol website.
The most common type of SSWPH collector is made of high grade uv-resistant plastic with a typical life span of 20 years. The plastic collectors are unglazed and require a roof or support structure on which to place them. The only reason to use a glazed collector system is when the pool is indoors and operated year-around.
A word of caution about panels comparisons, as not all panels are equal. There are two basic quality categories: panels designed for use with in ground pools and have a much longer service life. Beware collectors intended for above ground pools that are simply designed to be cheaper to own. These panels are often incorrectly installed and often fail due to freezing in their first year. DHS only uses professional grade equipment and installation techniques.
The SSWPH collector is quite forgiving for orientation purposes, the panel can face in any direction except north. Also, the collector only needs to be sloped enough to allow for the system to automatically drain when it is off for freeze protection, 2/ 12 sloping is a minimum requirement.
Panel sizing is a function of a ratio of the surface area of the pool. Pools that are covered when not in use require the least amount of collector (75% of the energy lost in a pool is evaporation).
I recommend a collector to pool ratio of 60%- 100% so if you have a 500 sq. ft. swimming pool your collector area would be: 300- 500 sq. ft.. Collectors come in 4’x8’, 4’x 10’, and 4’x 12’, any combination can be used if you have a roof that can’t take all the same size panels. Mixing collector sizes does add complexity to the installation, but it does allow collector arrays to be mounted in a variety of locations and configurations.
Ground mounting fairly common in rural areas where open space is available, this keeps the solar panels off the house roof and generally allows for placing the panels closer to the pool equipment. Panels must be place on a sturdy and weather resistant support rack. This does add somewhat to the cost, but does allow for installation options if the house roof isn’t available, or desirable for panel mounting.
When locating SSWPH panels attention must be paid to shading, if more than a couple of hours of shading occur between the hours of 9 am and 4 pm additional solar panels should be considered.