Grove Street

Archive for the ‘Gardening’ Category

Even though most people think of solar power as a great way to generate free electricity from sunshine, there are others ways the sun can help you save money on your energy costs. Swimming pool solar panels have been released in recent years that can help you heat your pool for free by harvesting the sun’s warming rays. Solar pool panels are easy to install, last for decades and can heat your pool to a very comfortable temperature with nothing more than sunlight.

Heat Your Pool By Concentrating the Sun’s Heat

These solar panels are a very specialized device that concentrates the heat from the sun in a series of weatherproof panels. Inside these panels is a webbing of very thin pipes that are exposed to the sunlight. The water from the pool is circulated through the panels and when it travels through the webbing of pipes it is heated by the sun and returned to the pool as slightly warmer water. This process continues until the pool is at the desired temperature and then the water is diverted away the panels and circulated normally.

A Simple System Means a Simple Install

The appealing thing about these solar pool heat systems to most homeowners is its simplicity. A typical system consists of a number of these swimming pool solar panels that are mounted on a roof near the pool. These panels made specifically to heat pool water are connected together with a single pipe and then tied into the circulating pump on your pool. Once this connection is made you can start to use the system to warm your pool water immediately. The system is simple enough to install on a typical pool in a few hours. There are also very few moving parts and this helps ensure that you’ll have years of service from your swimming pool solar panels without the worry of repairs.

Directing Flow to Control Pool Temperature

In addition to the specialized solar panels for pools used in the system, there is also a thermostat and a valve assembly that work together to direct the flow of water. This water flow will either be through the system when heat is needed or around the system when the pool is has warmed up to the desired temperature. Even though these swimming pool solar panels can operate as an independent system, they can also be tied into a modern pool control system just like a conventional heater. This allows you to control the heating of the water through your pool system to regulate its temperature.

Calculating Your Heating Needs

To figure out how many swimming pool solar panels you’ll need to adequately heat your pool you’ll need to know the approximate surface area of the pool. To completely heat a typical pool, you’ll want to install enough swimming pool solar panels to represent about 50% of the pools total surface area in panels. For larger pools this can mean quite a few panels, but they are not that expensive and will cost you far less than a conventional heater over time.

Prices May Vary

The cost of one of these solar pool heat systems can vary based on the size of your pool, but can typically be installed for a few thousand dollars on most pools. This is a very reasonable cost when you consider that the only fuel it will ever need to heat your pool is sunlight. These solar pool heat systems can be used on any pool and will need to be drained when the pool is closed for the winter in colder climates. This is to prevent the water that is circulated through the swimming pool solar panels from freezing during the winter months.

The sun is a virtually unlimited source of energy and showers the earth each day with enough power for all of our energy needs if we were able to harvest it. The energy the sun provides to us covers a wide range of wavelengths and each of them is affected in a slightly different way as the sun’s energy reaches our planet. Initially when the radiation of energy from the sun reaches our outer atmosphere, it is considered to be constant. The reason for this is that the distance between earth and the sun is a vacuum and has little impact on the solar radiation traveling through it. Once this sunlight enters our planets atmosphere however, things change pretty rapidly.

Solar Reflection and Diffuse Radiation

The first thing that happens to this solar radiation is that it is reflected by the various particles of dust, water vapor and other small debris in our atmosphere. This reflection sends some of the solar radiation that hits earth’s atmosphere back out into space and it never reaches our planet’s surface. Of the solar radiation that does get through, some of this is further reflected and scattered as it travels to the surface of the planet. The portion of this scattered radiation that eventually reaches the earth’s surface is known as diffuse radiation. This is a somewhat weaker form of solar radiation, but can still be harvested for conversion to electricity and heat.

Direct Solar Radiation

There is a portion of the solar radiation that reached the surface of the earth without being scattered or reflected and this type is referred to as direct solar radiation. This tends to be the strongest form of solar radiation and can produce the most energy from conversion to electricity or heat.

Radiation Intensity Varies Throughout the Day

Home solar panels can use all of these forms of solar radiation and convert them to energy for your home. The output of this solar power for homes will vary during a typical day depending on what type of solar radiation it has to convert. The highest output from these home solar panels will occur when the sun is directly overhead as this is when the most direct solar radiation strikes the panels and is converted to electricity.

Solar Energy Is Weakest in the Morning and Evening

In the early morning and late afternoon hours the sun is at a more dramatic angle to the surface of the planet and has to traverse more of the atmosphere before striking these home solar panels. As a result there is less direct solar radiation occurring and more diffuse sunlight as a result of the scattering in the atmosphere. These times of the day are more of a challenge for these home solar panels since they are converting a weaker sunlight and their output is much lower as a result.

Solar Technology Efficiency Improvements Have Come a Long Way

The good news is that most modern solar panels are more efficient than ever and can do a better job of converting this weaker diffuse solar radiation to electricity than older panels could. In fact many of the older home solar panels could only convert a very small portion of the diffuse solar radiation that struck them to electricity, which meant they were inactive for large portions of an average day. Because these new panels can convert this diffuse solar radiation better, they produce a far higher output of power on average than ever before.

Heating your pool with a solar pool heating system is a great way to lower your energy bills and keep your pool warm at the same time. Swimming pool solar panels are easy to install and will last for years when properly installed. Just like the home solar power systems, they can turn the energy from sunlight into something useful. A solar pool heating system is also a very simple system to install and operate, and can provide heat for a pool of any size and shape as long as you have enough solar collectors in your system.

Swimming Pool Solar Panels

These swimming pool solar panels need an adequate sun exposure to heat your pool properly. Most of these systems are mounted on the roof of the home or a shed located near the actual pool they are heating. The best alignment for these solar panels for pool is typically due south to collect the most sunlight possible. This allows them to generate more than enough heat to warm your pool to a very comfortable temperature.

How the Panels Work

The way these solar panels for pool work is simple and very effective. The panels have a webbing of small pipes located inside a weatherproof enclosure. The water from the pool is circulated through this webbing and as it passes through the smaller pipes, it is heated by the sun. Because there are a lot of these small pipes, their combined surface area is large and they can heat the passing water very quickly. This warmed water is the returned to the pool. The system contains a thermostat to help regulate the temperature of the water. When the pool has been heated to a predetermined temperature, the water is diverted around the heating system until the temperature drops. Most of these systems have very few moving parts and actually rely on the pool’s circulating pump to move the water through the system. Some of the more sophisticated solar pool heat systems can even be incorporated into your pool’s control system to allow you to manage the temperature as you would with a conventional heater.

Determining the Right Number of Panels

Deciding how many of these solar panels for pools you need is a matter of calculating the total surface area of your pool. This can be a little bit tricky in some cases as most pool have irregular shapes. You can do a close approximation to find its total area and this will help you design your system. Even though you can use a very small system to heat most pools, for you to be able to heat it quickly you should have enough solar panels to represent one half of the total surface area of the pool you are intending to heat. Even though some manufacturers advise you on a lower ratio, the one-half figure will provide adequate solar panels for pools to heat your pool quickly.

One Thing to Consider

The only other factor you need to consider is how much sun exposure these panels will receive during the day. If they are affected by shade or don’t have a perfect alignment due south, you might not generate the solar pool heat you need and have to increase the number of panels in your system. The nice thing is that it is easy to add panels if you find your pool is not heating quickly enough.