solar rings

I discovered SSRs as I have a house about 100km north of Lisbon , with a pool. I have 3 kids and all they really want to have on holiday is a pool to swim in which isn't freezing cold.

However, solar panels were quoted at about 7,000€ and I would also have to have the roof of my lovely new house covered in ugly panels and tanks etc

After inflating the rings incorrectly (like most people do, I over inflated the rings) I then read the instructions and then set them up correctly, I saw the following:

In 4 sunny days in March the temperature of my pool (9m x 4.5x, with 9 SSRs) rose from 15C to 19.8C. And this happened when the nights were still quite cold – we had central heating on.

In July when we returned to Portugal the pool was at about 21C. By adding the rings, the temperature reached 26C in a few days and for most of the summer was at about 29C.

Technical DetailsEvery now and then a new product hits the market that just blows away all of the competition. Solar Sun Rings is just that product.

Old-fashioned Solar Covers are effective in retaining heat on swimming pools and producing some heat, but if you ask a solar cover manufacturer how much heat a solar cover produces, as we have, they will generally tell you one of three things:

Well Solar Sun Rings are a bit different. The manufacturers of Solar Sun Rings know exactly what their product does and how many BTUs it produces, possibly because it works so well.

In tests at the National Pool Research Centre at California Polytechnic University, San Luis Obispo, the Solar Sun Rings proved a total heat input to the test pools of 21,000 BTUs per day for each unit.

In the solar heating world there were two established choices, the bubble pack blanket and solar panels. Now there is a third choice, Solar Sun Rings. All solar uses the same sunlight but each approach uses it in different ways.

The bubble pack blanket is made from polyethylene an opaque plastic. They generate almost no heat and what heat they do generate is surface heat. The general recommendation is to cut the blanket to precisely fit the swimming pool to get the maximum heat. This causes mustard algae due to lack of direct sunlight and alkalinity due to the inability of the decomposition products of the pool chemicals to escape into the atmosphere. The bubble pack blanket is inefficient.

2. Solar panels:

Solar panels derive their heat by absorbing the sun's energy. The panels are normally placed in an area that will receive maximum sunlight. The collector is generally unsightly. Solar Panels generate heat at about 1000 BTUs per square foot at the discharge from the collector. The panels require a pump to be operated at peak hours to circulate the water. Over the course of a full day about 30% of the heat put into the pool is lost by evaporation and advection. This gives a heat benefit to the swimming pool of about 700 BTUs per square foot of collector. Solar Panels are efficient but very expensive and require additional energy to work.

3. Solar Sun Rings:

Solar Sun Rings are rated at 21,000 BTUs for each ring per day. At about 19.6 square feet per Solar Sun Ring that is a daily heat benefit to the swimming pool of about 1070 BTUs per square foot of collector. This is accomplished by a combined high efficiency utilization of the sun's energy and insulating entrapped air in the device itself. This heat output is also accomplished without the daily cost of operating a pump.

If we look at the numbers, Solar Sun Rings exceed solar panels performance by 30% per square foot and cost about 1/20th the price. Installation and removal take only minutes by one person and add festive colors to your pool. The design and recommended use of Solar Sun Rings eliminates the mustard algae and alkalinity of the blanket. It is not necessary to operate a pump at peak hours to get the heat into your pool. Solar Sun Rings are the most efficient solar collectors, generate the greatest heat benefit to a pool per square foot, require no additional energy and are inexpensive.

Ring CalculatorWe recommend enough Solar Sun Rings be purchased to cover approximately 70% to 80% of the pool. The table below shows how many Solar Sun Rings are needed to accommodate your pool size. Measurements in metres.
The example below shows that a pool measuring 8m x 4m would need 8 Solar Sun Rings.

If you would like to order any of the above:

A better solar pool heater

Solar Sun Ring (No Logo)

Benefits of Solar Sun Rings