Richard,
I've read your posts with interest (as I almost always do). I'm baffled by one thing: Why do your solar panels require so much pressure? While I've long been an advocated of "More Flow = More Heat Energy", it seems awfully high and from what I've seen of solar panels, they are prone to leaking when the pressure is too high--I run mine on low speed all the time. When I bump the pump to high, I either turn off the panels, or shut their valves down to a crack, a trickle, to prevent them leaking. Of course FantaSea panels, nifty as they are, are far more fragile than the flexible roll-up types. I'm always checking for and repairing leaks.

As for the lower TA: I'm pretty sure it wasn't Ben who first put the concept forward. I thought it was one of the pool pros--or you--who suggested it (guess it wasn't you). Of course, in practice many of us have found it to be VERY effective to countering rising pH. Rising pH seems more mysterious than falling pH, which is almost always easy to trace, usually to Tri-Chlor or even Di-Chlor. Only with new or newly resurfaced hard (concrete/plaster) sided pools is rising pH expected.

But rising pH can be, as you know, an adverse effect of an SWCG. Many people complain about it. Yet I don't seem to have that problem and haven't in the 3 seasons I've had the SWCG. In fact, my pH has been pretty constant since I re-opened (and the Tri-Chlor tabs ran out) at 7.5-7.6 Yet my TA is around 170 due to the local water. Since pH IS stable, it ain't broke, so I'm not fixin' it!