High-Efficiency Residential Solar Pool Heating Systems
Abstract
This paper presents an experimental analysis of operating a typical residential solar pool heating system at the optimal mass flow after retrofitting a correctly sized high-efficiency water pump. For the solar pool heating system under investigation, the Grundfos UPS 25–80 N 180 water pump was selected as a suitable retrofit. It can produce 5.2 m of pressure at the optimal mass flow, which is sufficient to maintain the vacuum relief valve of the system closed. Over the whole swimming season, the high-efficiency water pump running at the optimal mass flow only uses one quarter of the energy of the existing single-speed pump running at the Business as Usual mass flow (0.08 kg s-1 m-2). The energy efficiency (i.e., COP) has increased substantially by 4.7 times. This solar pool heating pump retrofit achieves a payback period of around 3.3 years, which is less than the average pool pump lifetime.