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Solar pool heaters and solar spa heaters from MySolarPower

Whether you have an in-ground or above ground swimming pool or spa, indoor or outdoor, covered or open, solar water heating can be a low cost alternative to heating your pool throughout the summer months.

Heating a swimming pool usually demands lots of energy and is expensive and yet the temperature ranges required to heat swimming pools are ideal for the application of solar heating systems.

Most pools can be heated using solar thermal technology and will require little future maintenance. Installing the right solar technology can make solar pool heating cost effective whether you are heating a small domestic pool or Olympic sized. It clearly makes sense to harness solar power (a free energy source) rather than continue reliance upon expensive and damaging fossil fuels.

There are several different options on types of solar panels to use but in general terms the system will require solar panels in order to collect the energy.

Most solar pool heating applications will have:

Solar collectors (usually solar panels)
Pipe work
Heat exchanger
Control mechanisms

In the UK, unheated swimming pools only reach a pleasant temperature for a few days a year. Pools will normally need to be heated to 26-28 degrees Centigrade – higher temperatures will encourage bacteria and algae which in turn will either require much increased levels of chlorine or will need a UV system to be installed. Without coupling up to a standard heating system it is almost impossible to maintain these temperatures during the winter months when both Sun and daylight hours have decreased.

Similar to systems already described in this site, an array of solar panels will need to be located either onto a south facing roof or a south facing poolside area (possible onto a A-frame. Within this system the panels are connected via a sealed circuit to a chlorine resistant pool heat exchanger. The sealed circuit contains a glycol solution; this is what carries the heat to the heat exchanger.

There are however a number of other methods of harnessing solar power in order to heat the water. Other manufactures have systems whereby the panels may be installed on the ground and the water from the pool is pumped through the solar heating panels- some of the solar panels are manufactured for countries with temperatures typical of those found in the UK so that they will not become brittle in low temperatures during winter.

Most of the systems today are designed where required, to attach to existing filtration plants, and another system identified uses PVC Solar matting which is pre-fitted to PVC Manifolds which are in turn plumbed directly to the existing filtration plant – again this solar matting can be attached to a roof but could also be simply installed on the lawn! (It still needs to be south facing). Using this system type, a solar heat retention cover will need locating over the pool at night to prevent further heat loss.

Some systems now incorporate solar tracking systems so that they maximise the available sunlight and are capable of relocating the water heating into your home when the pool is not in use.

If you are thinking of having a new pool or spa or hot tub, then this is the time to think of installing a solar thermal system. If you already have one then the good news is that the majority of the systems can simply be retro-fitted.

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