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IS it possible for them to blend in and look good with the surrounding landscape? I like the idea of free heat but don't want to have to look at solar panels either. IF you have a covert install I, as I'm sure everyone else, would like to see some pictures.
Thanks,
Joe
Joe,
The solar panels are on the south side of the garage roof, about 80 - 90 feet from the pool pump and filter. They are 8 x 4' x 12' panels in parallel.
The Jandy temperature controller maintains the pool at 86 degrees. We presently have a blue tarp over the pump/filter assembly on a lattice that is supposed to have confederate jasmine to hide the pump and filter. Unfortunately Mother Nature is being very slow growing the jasmine, and hopefully I will have a picture at a later date.
Pat
Joe,
I'm not quite sure what you mean by "blend in" -- all solar panels I've seen on the homes in our community are on the roofs and unless you are looking at the back of the houses (and at the roof) you don't see them at all.
Even if you *are* doing this they aren't obtrusive in any way -- while I do understand there is the ability to put panels on the ground in built frames I don't know why anyone would want to as the roof is a ready-built solid frame and with modern panel mounting there is no danger of roof leaks.
We have 8 panels -- four on the side of our house next to the neighbors (these are impossible to see in any case -- you can't see them from the street and our neighbor's house is too close to ours to be able to get to where you could see them from the side) and four on the back of our roof (these can be seen if you stand at the back of our property but I have no idea why anyone would stand there :>). So -- perfectly blend into the environment.
Well, my pool is 100 feet from the house, so my solar panels are NOT on the house roof.
Mine are on the ground, south side of the pool, guess they'd blend in if I painted them green, but that would defeat their purpose.
You might want to consider building a gazebo or patio to elevate the panels if they are too far from the pool. At least something to get them off the ground and out of site. I don't know if this is an option for you though.
I had something of a dilemma installing mine on the roof (black panels on a spanish tile roof). The only way for me to get south-facing panels was to have them installed on the side of the house. My house faces southeast, so the south side of the house was the only option to achieve the results I wanted. Fortunately, I live on a cul de sac, with the entrance on the northeast side of the house, so the panels are never visible from the street, unless you drive past the house and turn the cul de sac. It was a tough decision, with lots of contemplation, but so far I'm comfortable with the decision.