Hi John,
I'm also in southern ontario, here are my stats and observations.
pool - 30 foot round - 22,000 gal - 100,000 Liters
I'm supposed to have 3 sets of these panels, but only have one.
No flow control - just full flow
Pool temperature has been ranging from 88 degrees to 94 degrees with solar panels hooked in. (wife likes it to be a hot tub)
Use solar blanket during day as well to stop evaporation (on a well).
Pool in full sun, panels on ground beside pool facing south also full sun.
Water gets circulated from 9:00am to 7:00pm.
Neighbour's pool - 24 foot round, no solar, full sun exposure, same solar cover usage for same reasons - pool is 6-8 degrees cooler than mine.
Here's what I can tell you about running your panels.
Don't bother restricting the flow, slower flow does not mean more heat, slower flow means higher increase in temerature of the water passing through, however, there will be heat lost to outside factors. The faster you can transfer the heat from the panel to the water the better off you are, trickling the water actually allows for more heat loss from the panels back to the air or into your roof shingles.
If your panels feel cool when the pump is on, they are working - because the water absorbs all the heat drawn into the panels.
If you restrict the flow, you create more wear and tear on your pump.
Do not run water through panels at night, they will work in reverse - cooling your water.
use a solar cover at night to retain yourt heat gained during the day.
One panel is plenty for your pool.
My pool gains approximately 3-4 degrees over the course of a full sun day, it loses about 1-2 degrees over night. Yours should gain a little more because you have much less water to heat. (of course your panels have to be set identical to mine for a direct comparison).
Somehow, your numbers tell me your panels are not working or not working very well, unless you recently put up the pool and are just coming up to the right temperatures from frigid fill water. Or, your system is running at night effectively cooling your pool, so any/all heat gained is lost over night.
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