Solar Pool Heating Basics

Solar heating for swimming pools is a pretty simple technology. Water from your pool, after passing through the pump and filter, is diverted to the solar collectors (also called panels), and then returns to the pool. The water travels from bottom to top in the collectors. The water is not held in the panels to heat up, it is constantly moving. Depending on the vertical lift, the filter pressure will be 4 -10 lbs. higher when the solar is on. The system usually will have some degree of automation, but sometimes we install a manual system, which relies on the pool owner to manually turn the diverter valve to send the water to the panels.

Shown Below Is A Typical Plumbing Schematic

1. Use your existing pool pump, pool water is directed through a series of valves to your solar collectors.


2. Pool water enters the solar collectors at the bottom and rises to the top through the individual tubes of the collector


3. As the water rises through the collector it is heated by the sun's radiant energy.


4. The water is then returned to your pool to repeat the cycle until your pool has been warmed by the sun.