Duda Solar Pool Collectors

by Duda Energy

Φ58mm x 1800mm Vacuum Tubes

Solar water pool collectors are unpressurized solar collectors meant to heat the pool water directly. Cold water enters into the manifold from the pool, sinks to the bottom of the tube, and once heated a little bit, will rise back up to the top of the manifold and exit with the water flow. Pool collectors are the most efficient way to heat water because they come in direct contact with the heated surface in the tube and operate at low temperatures which will allow for minimal heat loss through the tubes and manifold, if any at all.

These solar collectors have an inner manifold material made of 316L stainless steel. 316L stainless steel helps hold up against chlorinated water better than other metals, and typically lasts for about 15 years under normal usage, depending on how much chlorine content is present. When the manifold begins to leak due to failure from corrosion, the manifold can be replaced with a new one and the system may continue to be used.

Each 30 tube collector ships with an additional 10 spare tubes for freight breakage insurance. Extra tubes that make it unbroken may be kept by the customer as spares free of charge.

Because pool collectors fill directly with the working water, they are not winter resistant. They can survive some freezing temperatures, but should be taken apart or drained and covered during non-use seasons. Tubes which are left dry in the sun cannot be filled with water while they are hot or they will suddenly burst due to rapid cooling caused by water.

We recommend using these collectors with a controller and pump. When a controller is present, the water can be circulated to collect the heat. This is the most efficient method. Alternatively, a timer setting can be used to run the pump when the sun is out. Or the pool pump which filters the water can have a small bypass which sends water through the collector prior to returning to the pool and heat will be collected whenever it is available.

Manufacturer's Warranty Period:

All of our solar products come with a manufacturer's warranty. A manufacturer warranty covers materials defective due to the manufacturing process. If a manufacturing defect is discovered during the manufacturer's warranty period, the item may be returned to Duda Energy for repair or a replacement. Only materials found defective due to manufacturing will be replaced under the warranty. The warranty does not cover natural phenomenons such as corrosion.

The manufacturer's warranty period does not designate the expected lifetime for a material, unit or device. It only applies a limited time period in which defects due to manufacturing may be eligible for a claim.

Solar Collector Warranty Period: 3 Years

Parts Included:

Solar collector manifold

30 x Φ58 x 1800mm Long Vacuum Tubes

10 Spare Vacuum tubes (for breakage insurance during freight transit, extras may be kept by customer as spares)

Mounting gear with 37° Inclined stand for Flat Roof / Ground installation (May be mounted to a roof by use of additional parts or fixtures such as 2 x 4's)

Hex Bolts & Nuts / Hardware

The above heat calculation table is based on a latitude of 34.7° (Alabama), collector facing South at 37°, Average low ambient temperature of 65°F and average high of 95°F during the month of July.

Neil O. Anderson and Associates offer a good pool heat loss and gain calculator which may give a rough idea on how much heating could be needed for a pool during different months of the year. To use our collectors on their calculator, enter an area of 49 ft² per collector used and efficiency of 60% (0.60). Their calculator will not be exact for our collectors since they do not have a sophisticated calculator for handling tubular collectors, but the 60% will give a rough idea.

Alternatively, you can use their calculator to figure out "electric heating" costs to find out how many kw-hr/month you need. Simply enter into the form that you have electric heating. Set the cost as $1/kw-hr and do not input any solar collector information. The results will give you cost per month, which will be the same in kw-hr since $1= 1 kw-hr. This will represent how many kw-hr you need per month to heat the pool. Using the heating chart above, you can figure out how many 30 tube solar collectors you need to do this.

As an example for Huntsville, AL with a standard 20,000 gallon pool: we find that in June we need $806 in heating costs (806 kw-hrs) divided by 30 days = 27 kw-hr/day. If our insolation is an average of 7 kw-hr/day, that means we need 806 kw-hr/7 = 3.86 (round up to 4) x 30 tube collectors to heat the pool to 80°F each day in the month of June.

It should be noted that in order to keep a pool very warm during the colder months, it will take a significant amount of heating due to the mass amounts of heat loss. It is best to see solar pool heating as a supplemental means of heating a pool rather than an "all heat source" for a pool. The Neil o. Anderson & Associates calculator can be used to figure out the cost to heat a pool for certain months or year round using conventional means and then pool heaters can be used to remove some of those costs. Many people will find pool heaters to give tremendous amounts in savings (payback in 1-3 years of use) but may be turned off by the amount of solar energy needed to heat a pool entirely by solar in a cold month like January.