Need opinions on solar heating possibilities

[chem geek]

If your pool is exposed to sunlight, then about 60% of the sun's energy gets absorbed by the water (assuming white plaster; it's higher if you have dark vinyl). With an average pool depth of 4.5 feet, this would be a heating of around 0.7ºF per hour.

Your panels are about half the square footage of the pool, but would be around 80% efficient, so would be expected to be additional heating at around 0.5ºF per hour.

However, if the pool is uncovered, then heat loss from evaporation can be substantial with a 1/4" loss representing almost 5ºF. This means that using a pool cover makes a BIG difference in how much you can heat your pool. If you use a pool cover and solar panels, you get the most benefit.

This post of mine shows that with an opaque thin safety cover and solar panels that are around 80% of the pool surface area, I'm able to get at least a 25ºF water temperature above the average air temperature in the summer (avg. temp now around 60-65ºF and the pool is 87-90ºF). If you used a clear bubble-type solar cover, you could probably get a 30ºF water temperature above the average air temperature, or maybe even more. If you don't use a pool cover, then I would guess that you will only have a 15ºF increase in temp., maybe 20ºF, and it would depend a lot on your humidity and wind.

Carl, do you use a pool cover?

Richard