Solar pool panels
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Solar pool panels are usually flat-plate solar water heating collectors. The versions for nonpotable pool water use are often made of plastic. Pool water, mildly corrosive due to chlorine, is circulated through the panels using the existing pool filter or supplemental pump. A fairly simple differential temperature controller is used to operate the pump.
The collector panels are usually mounted on a nearby roof, or they can be ground-mounted on a tilted rack. Due to the low temperature difference between the air and the water, the panels are often unglazed. The collectors should face South in the northern hemisphere, and North in the southern. If of fixed mounting angle, the collectors' tilt should be optimized to warm the pool during the coolest months that the pool will be utilized; this optimal angle will vary with latitude. The collectors must drain down by gravity, or be drained, for freeze protection in anything but extremely mild climates. Almost all locations in the U.S. have the potential for freezing.
A simple rule-of-thumb for the required panel area needed is 50% of the pool's surface area. This is for areas where pools are used in the summer season only, not year 'round. Adding solar collectors to a conventional outdoor pool, in a cold climate, can typically extend the pool's comfortable usage by a couple of months or more if an insulating pool cover is also used. An active solar energy system analysis program, such as F-Chart, can be used to optimize the solar pool heating system before it is built.
