Do solar panels really work?

[jmjbj_h]

I am on the fence with this one. I have a 16x32 IG which roughly equates to 512 sqft. I have to minally cover 1/2 of the square feet which will bring me to 256. I can only fit about 240 sqft of Sungrabber on my east facing exposure roof. It gets quite a bit of sun due to the pitch and lack of a lot of trees. I don't want to invest on this one if it really isn't going to make a big difference. What do you all think?

[NWMNMom]

We have 4x40 feet of panels and live in a very northern area with cooler nights. Using the solar cover to keep the heat IN really helps but the thing is that just using the panels listed above, my pool will stay right about 85 and above for most of the season. Hooking them in immediately raised the water from the mid 70s to the 80s within a couple days of the pump running from appx Noon - 7pm. We had a lot of days we had to run the panels at night to cool the water down as 95 and over does not feel refreshing. End of last summer we ran on just 3 of the 2x20s due to damaged panel (replaced now) but had water that stayed over 80 and usually over 85 until the nights hit the 40s again.

So the short answer is YES, it will help. If 240 is all you can fit, then go with 240 sq ft.

[jmjbj_h]

I was considering 3 (4x20) panels. So you are saying that you get a really good boost from just 2 (4x20) panels. Your pool is bigger than mine, the only difference being that it is above ground. I wonder if that will make a difference?

[tphaggerty]

Biggest downside to solar is recovery time. Even 1/2 coverage will get you into the 80s with decent exposure. I boosted my solar from about 55% to well over 75% and saw a 10 degree rise on one day, something we never got before.

But, basically once you pay for the panels and plumbing, its free heat. If you have been swimming with no heat, you will LOVE your solar.

[CarlD]

You'll be amazed at how much even two panels will help. The figuring is based on the surface area of the pool, which really makes no sense. After all, you have to heat a volume of water, not an area. All 20,000 gallon pools (for example) should require aproximately the same amount of solar panels. I/Gs may get away with less as the surrounding ground becomes a heat reservoir.

Of course, the more surface area you have, the more heat you lose to convection. But with a good solar cover, you reverse that: The more surface you have the greater the greenhouse effect to heat your pool.

[tphaggerty]

Not to be picky, but surface area is actually an OK benchmark for figuring out how much solar, because it *generally* trends the same as pool volume, within reason, at least for IG pools.

For AG pools that don't have a deep end, I agree that volume makes more sense. But, if you use the area calculations for an AG, you are probably oversizing a bit, and as all of us in the solar world know, bigger is better (if you can afford it and have the space!!).