Solar Panel Pools Costs

The cost of energy is continually rising and it doesn’t appear that it will level off anytime soon. Because of this, homeowners who have swimming pools are forced to seriously consider whether or not they want to heat their pools. There are really only two options when it comes to conventional pool heating systems. Either heat the pool and pay the high cost of energy or don’t heat the pool and suffer water that is insufferably cold. The alternative is solar heating systems for pools.

Free Renewable Energy after Installation Costs

Because the sun is a continual source of free renewable energy, the primary concern is solar panels pools costs in terms of installation. In order to understand just how significant energy savings will be, it is necessary to compare the difference between running conventional heating systems and solar pool heating systems. The only cost you will have is what it takes to power the pool pump which is necessary for a solar panels pool heating system to work. This most often costs much less than $100 per year and in many cases less than half that. Compare that to the cost of running electric or gas pool heating systems which can cost thousands for a single season and you will see that the installation costs are minimal.

How Much Does a Solar Pool Heating System Cost?

The easiest answer to that question is that the cost is directly proportionate to the size of your pool! But, of course, there are other factors which can alter the cost as well. (No one said this was going to be easy!) Look at it this way. First of all, your solar unit needs to be at least 50% the area of your pool, so if your square footage is 440 sq. feet you would need solar panels totaling at least 220 sq. feet. If you purchase a thermal pool cover that will keep the heat in the pool when it is not being used, it is possible that you could get by with the smaller of the two sizes. If you intend to do the installation yourself then the majority of the initial outlay will be in the solar panels themselves. A typical price for a 4’ x 10’ solar panel is approximately $200, give or take a few dollars based on the manufacturer and/or distributor. Therefore, if you needed perhaps 6 panels which would provide a total area of 240 sq. feet, which would come to roughly $1200 for the panels. Most of the time, this is less than what it costs to heat your pool with electric or natural gas for just one season.

By taking into consideration the fact that solar panels pools heating systems provide free renewable energy from the sun year after year, they are the most cost effective pool heating systems on the market. They are extremely low maintenance and will easily last more than 10 years. Taking into consideration that most systems pay for themselves within the first 1.5 swimming seasons, you would then have a minimum 8.5 years of swimming in a heated pool which costs nothing to heat!