Solar Industries:
The original innovator in solar pool heating
Solar Industries pioneered development of the first solar collector designed and mass-produced
specifically for swimming pool heating over three decades ago. Before this time, solar swimming pool
heaters used copper-based solar collectors designed for hot water heating. Unfortunately, copper
presents two major weaknesses when used for solar swimming pool heating:
The copper fluid passageways in solar collectors used for hot water heating have a tendency to react
chemically with the chlorine in swimming pools under certain conditions, producing copper chloride, a
black granular substance that stains pool finishes.
Pool heating requires a very large solar collector surface area (typically 50 to 80 percent of the
swimming pool surface) and copper-based collectors are not economical for swimming pool heating at
such large solar energy collection surface areas.
Polypropylene collectors deliver excellent heating performance at the flow rates and relatively low
temperature requirements (76–90°F) associated with swimming pool heating.
A long string of industry firsts
Naturally, when you start out as the industry leader, you have an opportunity to benefit from greater
experience. Since leading the shift from copper to polypropylene plastic solar collectors during the
early 1970s, Solar Industries has introduced several “firsts” in solar pool heater collector design and
manufacturing:
First sun-tracking tube and web design. The Solar Industries collector has a unique tube and web
design that maximizes heat gain earlier in the morning and later in the afternoon… even on windy
days! This allows the collector to deliver significantly more heat to your swimming pool than third party
“snapshot” thermal performance ratings suggest.
First thermally welded construction. The Solar Industries manufacturing process creates a seamless
bond between each solar collector’s individual flow tubes and the collector’s headers. Years of field
experience have proven that this bonding technique withstands the stresses of thermal expansion and
contraction better than “over-moulding” separate strips of plastic to connect the solar collector
absorber surface to the headers.
First stabilized polypropylene. Our solar panels are formulated to withstand extreme exposure to the
sun, weather and pool chemicals. Thousands of our Solar Industries solar pool heaters have
delivered trouble-free performance for over 32 years.
First Lifetime Warranty. Naturally, when you have more field experience, you have more warranty
experience. Solar Industries solar collectors have very low failure rates, which gave us confidence to
offer the industry’s first lifetime warranty.
First 1,000 Btu performance rating. In addition to its rugged design, the Solar Industries solar collector
also has excellent heating performance. Solar Industries produced the first polypropylene solar
collector to achieve an independent third party testing agency rating of 1,000 Btus per square foot
per day.
First multi-plate construction. The tube-and-web absorber surface of the Solar Industries collector
actually consist of several six-inch wide sections. This “multi-plate” approach prevents solar collector
buckling during thermal expansion and contraction and allows the sections to separate during extreme
wind conditions. This separation during high winds allows air pressure to be relieved between the
sections, even though the roof fastening system is engineered to withstand hurricane-force winds
without the multi-plate feature. Your benefit is a double margin of safety.
First stainless steel mounting hardware. And speaking of the roof fastening system, Solar Industries
pioneered the use of marine-grade stainless steel roof fastening hardware and solar collector hold-
down straps. Even today, most of the solar pool heating industry continues to use nylon strapping and
plastic or rubber clips. While the nylon strapping has more than adequate design strength to
withstand hurricane-force winds, moisture exposure causes nylon straps to weaken and rot over time.
The Solar Industries collector design and construction was awarded U.S. Patent No. 4,060,070 and
other U.S. and foreign patents. Today, with over three decades of manufacturing and field
experience, Solar Industries collectors are operating trouble-free in in tens of thousands of
installations worldwide. You can swim comfortably knowing your Solar Industries system is the best
built, best backed solar pool heating system in the world.
Seeing, holding and touching is believing
The durability and design strengths of the Solar Industries solar collector are plainly obvious when
you have the opportunity to hold a section of an actual collector in your hands and compare it with
samples of competing collector products. When you compare the real thing, Solar Industries becomes
the obvious choice for heating your pool.
So call us at 772-465-0323 or complete our short free estimate form, and one of our experienced
design consultants will make it possible for you to see, hold and touch the solar industry’s leading
product for performance, durability and field-tested reliability. Demand the original innovator for your
swimming pool: Solar Industries!
A Proven Design
Modern Plastics magazine ran a feature story about the design,
development and engineering of the Solar Industries solar collector
back in 1980. Three article excerpts highlight major strengths of the
Solar Industries collector.
On the tube-and-web design:
“The use of a web rather than direct connections between the tubular
sections reduces the stress imposed on the tube, preventing
premature stress failure. The size, shape, and spacing of the tubes
contributes to the thermal efficiency of the collector.
“…Tests have confirmed that [this design] offsets the advantages that
can be cited for a fully water-wetted system, and provide the
advantage of inherently greater durability.”
On multi-plate construction:
“it was desirable to limit the width of individual plate sections so as to
permit release of fabrication stresses while the product is in service.
Extruded plastic solar collectors of one-piece plate design buckle as
the fabrication stresses are relieved, causing hollows to form; these
depressions have a tendency to become stained and unsightly after
the collectors have been in use for a few months. By limiting the
extrusion width to six inches and providing an intermittent bond
between the individual extrusions, they adjust and lie flat as the
stresses are released, solving the problem.”
On the absorber-to-header bond:
“The bond between the plate and the header must provide a totally
leakproof seal between 104 individual tubular water passages and the
surface of the header, while allowing the heat-transfer fluid to flow
unimpeded from the tubular plate section through drilled holes in the
header wall. Furthermore, it must be mechanically strong and the
bonding process must not significantly reduce the resistance of the
material to degradation by exposure to the elements.”
The Solar Industries thermal weld process has been so successful
that field failure rates, evidenced by product returns for any reason—
including shipping damage—average only about half of one percent
of shipments.
“High-efficiency solar collector system”
Modern Plastics, February 1980
When this article was written 29 years ago, Solar Industries had
already manufactured almost three million square feet of solar pool
heating collectors. Today, the company remains one of the world’s
largest solar collector manufacturers.