How to Conduct Solar Pool Heating

Pools lose heat to the environment all the time. If you live in an area that is not warm or you want to use your pool during the winter months it is essential to be able to heat the pool water. Heating pool water can be done using a solar pool heating system.

There are two ways to heat the pool using solar power. You could term the first as a passive system. It involves using a solar cover or blanket. The cover is placed over the pool when it is not in use and acts as an insulator. The cover is similar in design to bubble wrap, in that it consists of hundreds of small bubbles of air on one side and a flat plastic that is reactive to sunlight on the other. The bubble side is placed onto the water. The cover will become hot from any or even the smallest amount of sunlight. This will be passed into the water. The cover then acts to prevent any of the heat being lost to evaporation. Solar pool covers are simple to use and quite cheap.

The more active solar pool heating system is the more common method of utilizing solar energy.

There are four parts to the system :

The solar panels,

The battery block,

The cabling that connects all the components together,

And a control panel that allows the user to regulate the temperature of the water, check on the battery charge and monitor the solar panels.

Installing this kind of set up is generally quite expensive and requires a qualified person to assemble and set up correctly. This cost will obviously decline as more emphasis is put on solar energy and other renewable energy sources.

At the moment I would suggest that most people try the passive system to begin with. A pool is a bit of a luxury so installing a fully active solar powered system may be considered excessive. It might be more appropriate to install such a system to control the power sources within the house such as the lighting and heating first. You can add a pool heater once you are comfortable with the technology and know it's strengths and limitations.

Whichever heating system you select for your pool, ultimately it will save you money on gas and electricity bills. You will get your money back faster with the passive system and it will take a few years to recoup the cost of setting up the active solar pool heating system.

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