We have a 15x30 AG. We live south of you (Atlanta).
The cover is a necessity for keeping heat in at night. Especially in the late summer when the nights start getting cool. In fact, we have found that leaving the cover on during the say appears to actually impede pool heating. So starting in May or so, we religiously take the cover off in the morning and put it on at night.
Our pool is surrounded on all sides by a deck, so we use a reel for an inground pool. It works great, and one person can put the cover on/off.
Our swim season (for me - mid 70s water temp or higher) is all of June/July/August. It should be longer, but our backyard has limited direct sunlight. I have calculated that a +10 degree boost by solar panels would probably add May and September to our swim season. My daughters don't care --- they swim in 65+ degree water. I'll only join them in a wetsuit ...
The irony is that my backyard facing room (south-west) gets a LOT of direct sunlight all day. In a year or two we are going to go with panels, but I've got a lot of pipe running to do before that will happen.
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