Solar Panel & Pool Heating Combination

Lbrianki on 08/09/2020 - 11:00

Hi All,

I am looking for some advice on what is may be a relatively small sub set of circumstances.

We have recently bought and moved into our current home, (plan to be here for the long term 10++ years) which is a 70's brick house. Not a knock down rebuild candidate, really unique home and we love it to bits.

Home is based in Western Sydney for location context and we were lucky enough to find a place with a pool which was one of our key factors in the search. Now that we are settled in we are considering how to add value to the home for the long term and to add enjoyment to the place for ourselves.

Right now one of next investments is likely to be solar panels, as we have a lot of usable roof space that would work. Once we had been part way into our solar system research, the idea of pool heating was brought up by one of the suppliers. They didnt offer solar pool heating systems but did recommend that we do a little more homework before committing.

So here i am looking for some guidance for the wise Ozbargain crew.

A bit more specific details:

  • Currently use about 21kWh of electricity in winter time, including pool filter/chlorinator, small amount of heating required
  • Pool is 60000ltr concrete in ground pool, salt water pool, and no pool cover at the moment. Generally rectangular in shape with a bulge for steps to get in/out.
  • Current proposal for the solar PV system can generate 29kWh average, but would use the majority of the effective roof space (roof place facing N, NW) of the house so limited space remaining for solar pool heating.The roof here is concrete tiles.

Trying to get views on pool heating options and what peoples experience/views are on the various systems on the market

  • Solar pool heating, would need to use the other side of the roof, (roof place facing S, SE) and this roof plane in metal sheeting. There should be enough area there but it is on the 'wrong' side of the roof.
  • Heat pump pool heating, use the proposed PV panels to drive an electric heat pump, for the pool size we have we would need a 24kW pump with an input of about 4-5kW.
  • Solar collector pool cover, which I see more as a complementary item that can be added to either system above.

There is another system that came up in my research, DualSun (https://www.supremeheating.com.au/heatseeker-dualsun-residen…) a hybrid PV and pool heating panel system but there seems to be very limited info out there on the performance of this system. If anyone has experience here please do let me know your thoughts.

Really keen to understand what peoples views are here and what general best practice is.

Cheers

Poll Options expired

  • 2
    Solar Panels paired with electric heat pump to heat pool
  • 0
    Solar Panels paired with solar pool heating
  • 5
    Solar Panels paired with electric heat pump to heat pool with pool cover
  • 6
    Solar Panels paired with solar pool heating with pool cover
  • 1
    Dualsun System
Home & Garden

Comments

  • JimmyF on 08/09/2020 - 11:20
    +4

    Whatever method you use, If you're heating a pool a cover is required, otherwise the heat is just escaping!

    Solar pool heating will use the same primary placement on the roof as solar panels. So you sometimes need to make a choice between the two.

    If it was me, I would be going solar panels paired with electric heat pump. This way you could have the excess solar power around for running the AC during summer when pool heat pump isn't needed for example.

    • ItsMeAgro on 08/09/2020 - 12:27
      +1

      Pool covers are amazing for this. They let the heat in and keep it in.

      Not unusual for the water to be as warm as a very warm bath on hot summer days.

      Should reduce evaporation too.

      Just make sure your pool fencing is up to standard, and your kids warned of the dangers. Kids love to jump on the cover and it's super dangerous (the cover wraps around you and it's hard to swim to the surface, easy to drown).

  • [Deactivated] on 08/09/2020 - 11:40
    -1

    If it is an outdoor pool, solar heating isn't worth it.

    If you're in Victoria or Tasmania, an outdoor pool isn't worth it.

    Solar takes a long time to heat. It is a great thermal mass when indoors but outside, it cools down as quickly as you can heat it up with solar.

    • Ocker on 08/09/2020 - 12:25

      We have a 50,000 lt outdoor pool in Victoria with both solar heating and a pool blanket.
      The solar will be turned on at the end of this month and, using the pool cover it will add 6 degrees to the water temperature than would otherwise be the case.
      Cover the pool at night and regardless of the outside temperature the water temperature will only drop by about 1 degree.
      The pool will be usable until about the end of March time

      • [Deactivated] on 08/09/2020 - 12:59
        -2

        Indoor pool. Used all year round. In winter, unused solar goes to heating the pool.

        The pool heats the house.

        Full thermal efficiency. Full use of pool.

  • Ocker on 08/09/2020 - 12:21

    I don't know if you can refit solar heating to the pool for plumbing reasons. That is, the intake and return piping needs to be in the pool wall.

    • Peter Enis on 08/09/2020 - 13:00

      You can, but it uses the same pipes as your main pump and filter, meaning you have to run your main pump whenever you want the heating to operate. Also you may need to get a smaller booster pump if the main pump can't handle the additional load of pumping it up onto the roof.

  • Nugs on 08/09/2020 - 12:26
    +2

    we installed a pool a few years ago.
    we spoke to a handful of companies re install & heating.
    Solar heating (with black tubing on the roof), was suggested as a 'season extender', adding a few weeks to beginning and ending of swim season.
    Heat pump was suggested only if we had intention of swimming year round.
    as stated above, a cover (blanket) is essential to retain heat and also to reduce evaporation.
    we have found in long hot spells that we actually need to remove the cover overnight to release some heat
    .

    • JimmyF on 08/09/2020 - 13:52
      +1

      Solar heating (with black tubing on the roof), was suggested as a 'season extender', adding a few weeks to beginning and ending of swim season.

      Sorry, so you're wasting the prime roofspace that could be used for solar, to get a few extra weeks of swimming.

      You're best to go solar and heat pump option. You'll get the few extra weeks and even longer if you have enough solar spare during the day

  • brianki on 08/09/2020 - 19:12
    +1

    Appreciate the feedback folks, right now I am tending towards the heat pump solution, as JimmyF says it give flexibility for future/alternative use of the electricity if heating isnt required at other times of the year. Keep the views coming though, happy to hear any/all thoughts.

  • alicechen745 on 21/09/2020 - 15:49
    +1

    I would recommend you to go for Heat pump with solat panels installed on your roof. You will get 2 main perks with this. First your pool heating bills will be zero as I can see you are using a lot of energy on pool heating. Secondly you can use energy generation from your solar panels in your house along with heating your pool which I think can't be achieved with solar heating of pool. I have just installed a Madimack pool heat pump in conjunction with my newly installed solar panels. I went for the Elite Silent 28kW and have been running it for a few months. We took down our roof top solar pool heating as it kept leaking and was inconsistent at best. The pool is constantly 26 degrees where we have set it, and we use a pool cover. I wish we had done it years ago. To me it made sense to use my roof space for PV and combine it with a heat pump. We choose Madimack because of the great product reviews and efficiencies and I’ve been very impressed so far.

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