How long is Your Pool Season?

A pool that is not used regularly during the seasons of spring, summer and fall is a nice but very expensive luxury.

A pool that is heated by gas or electricity ensures a long season of fun and health, at a high cost.

You want to use your pool 8 months without paying for the energy?

Use free sun energy.

The Performance You need

1.- System Performance

The system performance is defined by:

- the efficiency of any single collector and

- the overall system efficiency.

The collector performance is measured in BTU per square foot per day, according to the Florida Solar Energy Centre (FSEC). FSEC’s report is publicly available, ask you supplier. The overall system performance depends heavily on an even flow throughout all panels, otherwise the water in one panel will not get as heated as in another, lowering the system efficiency. It may be a good idea to ask if the efficiency will be reduced by adding panels. If so you encountered a system with an uneven flow.

2.- Performance Calculation

The performance calculation for the Solar Pool Heating system installed on your property – done by solar engineers – makes you a happy or not that happy solar system owner. Why? Before purchasing a solar system you want to know how long you can use your pool at the desired temperature.

You may want to ask your supplier a few specific questions:

• Have you considered orientation and tilt?
• Have you considered passive heating of my pool?
• Have you considered the loss caused by wind?
• Have you considered shading?
• Have you considered orientation and tilt?
• Have you considered passive heating of my pool?
• Have you considered the loss caused by wind?
• Have you considered shading?

If the solar pool system is inaccurately sized, the damage will be in your hands not the supplier’s.

3.- Performance Guarantee

As described in above “Performance Calculation” you are very dependent on a good engineering work from your supplier without being able to verify if he did a good job. Is this fair? Why not ask your supplier to guarantee that the Solar Pool Heating system will heat your pool according to his prediction?

Warranty

The product warranty should be at least 12 years. It should cover material and labor at not cost for you, or in other words: it should be a full warranty. In case the manufacturer has really high reliable products he may offer a lifetime limited warranty providing replacements of defective parts at 50% of published list price.

Lifetime Expectations

The expected lifetime for high quality solar collectors is 25 years. Therefore, it is good idea to know if your supplier is a well established company and able to deliver the long term service you expect.

Solar Right

You can get solar energy systems in spite of what you Home Owner Association told you. Every property owner is entitled to install solar energy systems. California law invalidates and renders unenforceable any instruments affecting the installations or use of solar energy systems. However, the law allows provisions that impose “reasonable restriction”, defined as increase in cost or decrease in performance up to 20%.

All those strange names and abbreviations!

Why can’t the solar guys speak in plain English? The following will assist you in understanding the information you need in making a good decision:

BTU or British Thermal Unit-

A unit of energy used to measure natural gas.

Passive Solar Heating-

Sunlight absorbed into the pool water causes natural heating.

Performance Rating-

The effectiveness of the solar collector at converting the sun’s energy into heat, expressed as BTU per square foot per day (BTU/sq.ft./day)

Solar Collector-

A device that absorbs solar energy and converts it into usable heat.