My mostly opaque electric safety cover was light tan and though it held heat in by eliminating evaporation and providing some insulation (not that much compared to a bubble-type cover), it did not heat the water very much from sun hitting it during the day. We just replaced the cover this year with a dark blue one (still a thin electric safety cover) and the difference is very noticeable in terms of increased heating.
So I was assuming that having the cover be white or reflective that it would transfer very little of the sun's energy to the pool. Yes, it would still retain heat, but it wouldn't increase the water temp -- just would maintain it.
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