Solar panel installation question

[mneal]

I bought a couple of those sungrabbers but have not installed them yet. I have a IGP with spill over spa and was not 100% sure how I wanted to plumb it. How did you guys plumb yours?

[NWMNMom]

We have a diverter system and plumbed all of ours so that it runs from diverter to a central pvc that Ys off to simultaneous INs and a simultaneous OUT that runs back to the diverter and return. We have ours mounted on a rack system that stands upright on the north side of our pool as we have no left over southern exposure between the pool and the woods.

[matt4x4]

take encaps off, look though each header, the one you can look through gets the caps (where the water makes a u turn), the one you can't look through gets the input/output connectors.

If you do connect more than 2 units, it is beneficial to remove the baffles (some units allow for that) in the input/output ends of all, install the input connector there and a cap, install the other cap at the far end, with the output connector, feed into the next etc.

[cleancloths]

I looked through both ends and can see clear daylight through both ends, so I can only conclude the panels don't have the discs they talked about. Anyway, I just came in from repiping the sytem. I have the two panels next to each other with a flexible connector tying them together at both ends. I am feeding water into one tied header and withdrawing from the tied heater at the other end. Seems to be working quite well this way.

[CarlD]

CleanCloths has gotten to the nub of the matter: An increase from 12kBTU per hour to 18kBTU per hour. While it's true that more flow generally means more heat, I suspect you had blocked off half your panel and therefore were only getting half the heat. Replumbing doubled the length and with it the resistence and GPM, but increased the heat absorbed.

That's my guess. Normally that "disk" or valve forces the water coming in one port to go the length of the panel one half (1' width) then come down the other. Opening the valve allows the water to flow through the end tube without hitting the panels.

Bottom line: You BTU/Hour added to the pool jumped 50%. And BTUs are REALLY what heating is all about, not temperature.

[cleancloths]

Finally got the SunGrabber folks on the phone today. They told me I would know if the disc was there as it has a big red handle to control it and you cannot see through the header. They tell me I was shipped the inground units rather than the above ground units - which is fine by me since I have an inground pool, just did not want to pay more for what looked like the same panels.

I have the panels tied in parallel now and they are working great.

[matt4x4]

I would recommend a slight change in the setup of the panels,
on the supply end of the first, I would cap the end of the header that is currently tied to the second - this will force all water through panel 1 to the opposing end, where you should then push through the short pipe to panel 2 and cap that side of the input header, forcing all the water through the second panel then back to the pool.
it would eliminate tying the panels together at BOTH the INPUT AND OUTPUT headers, which can cause unforseen problems and or performance issues (not saying it will, but a chance exists.).

[cleancloths]

I had it the way you suggest at one point because I needed another flex connector to connect it in parallel. Why do you feel hooking them in series is better than hooking them in parallel? I understand that if you hook them in series you will generate hotter water, but by hooking them in parallel you extract more total BTU's which is the name of the game.

What "unforseen" problems do you think might happen?