How to Size Your Solar Collector for Solar Pool Heating

Heating your pool with a solar pool heating system is a great way to lower your energy bills and keep your pool warm at the same time. Swimming pool solar panels are easy to install and will last for years when properly installed. Just like the home solar power systems, they can turn the energy from sunlight into something useful. A solar pool heating system is also a very simple system to install and operate, and can provide heat for a pool of any size and shape as long as you have enough solar collectors in your system.

Swimming Pool Solar Panels
These swimming pool solar panels need an adequate sun exposure to heat your pool properly. Most of these systems are mounted on the roof of the home or a shed located near the actual pool they are heating. The best alignment for these solar panels for pool is typically due south to collect the most sunlight possible. This allows them to generate more than enough heat to warm your pool to a very comfortable temperature.

How the Panels Work
The way these solar panels for pool work is simple and very effective. The panels have a webbing of small pipes located inside a weatherproof enclosure. The water from the pool is circulated through this webbing and as it passes through the smaller pipes, it is heated by the sun. Because there are a lot of these small pipes, their combined surface area is large and they can heat the passing water very quickly. This warmed water is the returned to the pool. The system contains a thermostat to help regulate the temperature of the water. When the pool has been heated to a predetermined temperature, the water is diverted around the heating system until the temperature drops. Most of these systems have very few moving parts and actually rely on the pool's circulating pump to move the water through the system. Some of the more sophisticated solar pool heat systems can even be incorporated into your pool's control system to allow you to manage the temperature as you would with a conventional heater.

Determining the Right Number of Panels
Deciding how many of these solar panels for pools you need is a matter of calculating the total surface area of your pool. This can be a little bit tricky in some cases as most pool have irregular shapes. You can do a close approximation to find its total area and this will help you design your system. Even though you can use a very small system to heat most pools, for you to be able to heat it quickly you should have enough solar panels to represent one half of the total surface area of the pool you are intending to heat. Even though some manufacturers advise you on a lower ratio, the one-half figure will provide adequate solar panels for pools to heat your pool quickly.

One Thing to Consider
The only other factor you need to consider is how much sun exposure these panels will receive during the day. If they are affected by shade or don't have a perfect alignment due south, you might not generate the solar pool heat you need and have to increase the number of panels in your system. The nice thing is that it is easy to add panels if you find your pool is not heating quickly enough.