Hose/pipe length for solar panels

[porkypete]

Hey all, I have a 21'round AG and wanted to hook-up a couple solar panels. The issue is the 1/2 horse pump/filter is on one side (no sun) and where I want to install the panels is at the opposite side of the pool (full sun all day). How long of hose/pvc pipe can I run. Will the extra length burn-out my motor and/or will it be able to pump the water all the way to the solar panel and back to the pump/motor area and into the pool? Do ya'll prefer to lay the solar panels on the ground or prop them against the side of the pool? Thanks for your help!

[tphaggerty]

Other folks with AG pools can give you tips on where to place the panels. As far as pipe length, as long as you don't use the spiral tubing (use something smooth inside, either regular hard Sched 40 PVC or FlexPVC), you can easily run the piping a LONG way. Mine is about 130' from the pump.

[NWMNMom]

We used to have ours quite a distance away. You should be fine.

[Poconos]

Home Depot etc. have black poly pipe in 100' rolls really cheap. For lowest flow resistance you also want to use the largest diameter that is reasonable. One drawback is you can't make sharp bends but there is an assortment of barbed fittings for the stuff. I buried a couple 1.25" lines to my field solar array that is about 80' from the pool and up 10'. The array is 1200' of the black 1/2" stuff. Works great. As for the angle of the panel the optimum angle depends on your latitude but about a 30 degree angle will work better than laying it flat. But you are usually limited in what is reasonable from fabrication, practicality, and cost considerations.
Al

[cleancloths]

From my experience you are better off going with 1.5" rather than 1.25" as the latter is an oddball size and is just about the same price as 1.5" which will handle much more flow or give you much less of a pressure drop.

[porkypete]

That answers my questions. Thanks all for your replies!

[poolbuoy]

Mine are on a PT platform about 20 ft from the pump and 30 ft from the skimmer...I used sch.40 pipe and that felxible hard pool hose. No problem with pump overworking at all and I also got a automatic valve that opens or closes depending on the temp. selected. In ma. it is usually on but sometimes with three 100 degree days in arow I turn it off.

[ChuckD]

Hey Poolbuoy,
I'm over outside Schenectady. I'm mostly interested in extending the season. Coupla questions if you don't mind since we share similar climates:
How do you like this set up?
How big, and what kind of pool?
What kind of panels?

Thanks.