Would it be possible to line the inside of a pool with solar cells?

Question

I was wondering if you could use solar cells, instead of tile, to floor a pool? Would the water effect this? Would this be a dumb idea?

Answer 1

the sun's rays would be mostly reflected back into the atmosphere from the surface, but if the solar cells were dark enough in color they would absorb some of that heat.  it's more effective however to allow the sun's rays to hit the solar cells directly at an angle that allows for the winter sun to hit them too and facing south.

the water bends the light and reflects the heat

Answer 2

I don't think it would work, the PV panels need direct sunlight, I think the water would refract the light and make them not effective. I also think the whole wiring thing would be a problem, there are a lot of volts going through the wires.

If you don't have room on your roof, you can put them on a porch cover or use them as shade structures.

Answer 3

Very dumb.

You want the panels to get as much sunlight as possible.  Water will filter the light, so the panels won't get as much as they otherwise would.  You'd also create a maintenance problem.  If a panel goes bad, how do you get to it to fix it?  And what happens in the shallow end when someone walks across the bottom, and stands on your solar panels?

You'd do better to put them on the fence surrounding the pool.

Answer 4

You would most likely get cooked when you went swimming. It would be like sitting in a microwave, all those rays reflecting into your poor skin. Talk about a 10 minute tan!

Answer 5

When most people decide they want to heat there pool using solar power they contractors usually put them on the roof for the most sunlight(obviously). These work very well however they do come with a hefty price tag(seen it upwards of 20,000).

Answer 6

You probably could, but from an efficiency point of view it might be silly to keep your solar panels at the bottom of a 10' hole, since that will shorten the number of hours per day of sun they get.

You'd probably also have to be careful with the connections, to make sure the water doesn't get behind the panels and cause a short.

Update:  I don't think the water would magnify the light.  I'm saying this only because I scuba dive, and the deeper you go, the darker it gets.  Now, putting a curved lens over your solar panel will help.  But since the surface of the water is flat, I don't think it will be beneficial.