Lay My Hat

We're in Charente Maritime and looking to get some solar panels fitted to heat our pool.

I'm told the evacuated tube panels are our best bet as these don't put extra pressure on the pump.

Can anyone recommend a decent company/engineer that could fit these for us?

Also, has anyone got a similar system? What brands have you used etc?

Thanks!

Extra pressure on the pump ???? Never heard that one before !

Hhmm yeah I don't really understand the technical stuff so have no idea why that would be the case with the pump.

So how about you 'Born in the UK'? Have you got solar heating? And if so, what system?

toulouselechat wrote:Hhmm yeah I don't really understand the technical stuff so have no idea why that would be the case with the pump.

So how about you 'Born in the UK'? Have you got solar heating? And if so, what system?

Extra dynamic head caused by friction in the pipework as the water is forced through it may cause the pump to have to work a bit harder but as the pumps are way over spec'd for what is required they can usually cope but the extra strain can cause a premature pump failure if the system isn't setup properly.

The only issue with evacuated tubes is in summer when the pool is at temperature you still need to dump the excess heat from the panels or you could melt the manifolds. I was considering fitting some roller blinds to block the sun and also off protection in the event of those large hailstones. In winter it could be used to heat an underfloor heating system if you can find someone with the technical skills to hook it all up. Like wise heating a water tank when the pool is up to temperature.

Still a concept at the moment.

With Evacuated tubes you can use a low power filtration setup via the heat exchanger and save a considerable amount of electricity, easily enough to negate the cost of the tube arrays.

Several posts on here already:
viewtopic.php?t=24906

toulouselechat wrote:Hhmm yeah I don't really understand the technical stuff so have no idea why that would be the case with the pump.

So how about you 'Born in the UK'? Have you got solar heating? And if so, what system?

As Teapot says most "standard" spec pumps are able to handle direct solar panels, after all the pump is already pushing water through a filter bed of some description so a little extra pipe friction will be minimal.

Yes, I do have solar heating on 2 pools here in the Charente and have in the past 15yrs installed a few in France, and a fair number in the Charente Maritime. Now retired and wouldn't recommend anyone sorry as there are so many "rogues" in the pool and ancillary business.

bornintheuk wrote:wouldn't recommend anyone sorry as there are so many "rogues" in the pool and ancillary business.

Ditto

Ok, well thanks for your help and suggestions, Teapot and Bornintheuk

Do the evacuated tube panels still heat the water on a dull day?

Anyone else out there who can recommend a solar engineer? We've managed to find the panels but getting a quote for a engineer is proving to be impossible!