Rose | 
08 20th, 2009| 
Pool Solar Collectors, also sometimes known as swimming pool solar panels are the most critical aspect of solar pool heat generation and will be the subject of my blog post today.
Sunlight (energy) which is radiated out from the sun in fierce quantities has, fortunately for us, diffused greatly by the time it reaches the earth. Of course, the nearer you are to the equator, the stronger and more intense the rays of the sun will be. In the equatorial regions the cry is for cooling, not warming! Incidentally, solar power can be used for cooling, too, when it is combined with certain refrigeration applications, but that is the subject of another blog post:-)
Time for a swim? Is the water warm enough for you?
In order to heat something efficiently, and here we are concerned mainly with heating our swimming pools, we need the rays of the sun to concentrate on a solar collector that, as its name suggests, ‘collects’ the heat of the sun. In other words, the solar collector absorbs the sun’s heat and traps it there, so that it can be passed on to what we need heated – in our case, the cold water of our pool.
Here’s an example to illustrate what I mean more clearly by pool solar collector. A car that has been parked in the sun for hours on end becomes unbearably hot because the sun has showered heated on the whole car. Everything inside it, including the air has become very hot, too, as the heat has transferred to them as well. Or to look at it from another perspective, the car has absorbed and held on to the solar heat while simultaneously transferring it to all the things inside it.
This is how the solar collector for your pool works too, but instead of air and seats getting heated there is water. The water is pumped into the pool solar collector by the pool pump where it is warmed up a few degrees and then it passes out the other side making way for more cold water as it flows back into the pool. This process continues all day long with the pool water circulating through the solar collector and back to the pool, getting warmer and warmer.
In its most basic form, the pool solar collector can consist of a large box which you need to paint densely black. Inside the box, you need to ’snake’ black PVC pipe back and forth so that they get maximum exposure to the sun. The pool water will pass through these black pipes to be heated. The box must be covered with a glass cover to trap heat inside the box – much like the heated car we talked about earlier.
You simply use your pool pump that already circulates water from the pool through the filter before returning it to the pool. You need to tie into the pool’s return line after filtration has taken place to divert it through a solar collector and then back to the pool.
If you attach an automatic thermostat to your solar pool heat system, then it will switch the system on when the water cools down below your desired temperature and it switches it off again when it reaches the heat you want. You do not have to do anything, the system can be made to work for you.
Taking advantage of the sun’s energy to heat a swimming pool makes great economic sense and brings joy to the hearts of those of us who love swimming cannot bear swimming in cold water. It’s an affordable way to solar pool heat using swimming pool solar panels which you can make yourself and slot into your existing pool filtering system.
Incidentally, should you decide to purchase something from any of the links on my site, I will be paid a small commission for having promoted the product on my site.
