can I connect my pool pump to a solar panel?

I don’t need to tell you that electricity is extremely expensive in the Caribbean, and the sun is plentiful, so solar may be a cost effective solution for you. I have several customers in the islands who have solar pool pumping and solar pool heating.

You have a couple of options. If you already have a pump, you could find out how many watt hours (wh) it uses a day. To do that, figure out how many watts the pump uses, and how many hours a day it is on. Watts times hours equals watt hours, and that is how the electric companies charge us, how many wh, or kwh (thousand watt hours) a month. (1 horsepower is equal to about 750W, running for 6 hours would be 3900 wh, or 3.9kwh). Once you know how much power your pump uses, you can install enough solar panels and an inverter to generate that amount of power, thus offsetting what it uses.

Another option is to replace your existing pump with a more efficient solar powered pool pump. It would only run when the sun is shining, but that’s pretty much when your existing pump runs too. Depending on the size of your pool, the whole package with pump and solar panels is about $5000. Do the math to see how much you are paying for electricity now, and see if it is worth it. http://www.altestore.com/store/Solar-Pool-Heaters-and-Pumps/Solar-Pool-Pumps/Lorentz-Solar-Pool-Pump-with-PS600-Controller/p5827/

Your question also said you are using a heater. You can reduce or eliminate that need with solar pool heating. The pump pumps the water from the pool through the collectors, generally installed on your roof, and then back into the pool. The sun heats the water as it is traveling along your roof, just like leaving a hose out in the sun. You size the system based on the square feet of pool area. http://www.altestore.com/store/Solar-Pool-Heaters-and-Pumps/Unglazed-Solar-Pool-Heating/Guardian-Solar-Pool-Heating/Leveredge-Guardian-Pool-Heating-Package-400-SqFt/p7353/.

Vanishing edge pool comes to life @ night!