The ones I saw on houses in my area looked like they held up and didn't get blown apart. Now if they still worked, I have no clue. I know that solar pannels for making electricity get destroyed.

Florida has a "wind load" code, I don't have a copy of it but I believe it includes not just roofs but anything that goes on them (including electricity-generating solar panels and solar water heating panels). I suspect they require some kind of special fastening and/ or hurricane straps. The codes are intended to prevent flying debris (which is the major cause of damage during hurricanes and wind storms). You might contact some local solar companies and ask what they do for hurricane protection.

There hasnt been a hurricane in 4 years now. And before that the last major one was over 10 years (Andrew). Many roofs alone cant take them. I personally wouldnt worry about it either way although it looks like your question was answered.

There hasnt been a hurricane in 4 years now. And before that the last major one was over 10 years (Andrew). Many roofs alone cant take them. I personally wouldnt worry about it either way although it looks like your question was answered.

The only thing that mix with a hurricane is prayer.
Good Luck....JR

I am a pool builder in the Orlando / Central Florida area and have seen the damaged caused by the numerous hurricanes that went through our area in 2004. Not as many solar panels came off as I thought would. We use the Fafco or Helicol solar panels with the tubes for this reason They are designed to allow high winds pass through the tubes. All the panels that came of that I am aware of were the solid panels. Since we use the panels with the tubes we did not have one customer lose their solar panels. The biggest damage was done to screen enclosures, many had to be replaced or repaired.

I would check with your home builder if you are in a new house because there are a few builders here that will void your roof warranty if you put any type of solar panel on the roof.

If you still have concerns, I would also consider heat pump options. I have a heat pump on my pool and love it! I use the pool a lot at night and really like the fact I still have the ability to maintain or heat the pool when the sun is down. I also do not like to fuss with any type of solar cover for the pool. I do not have a solar cover on my pool and its okay because heat pumps recover faster than solar. Of course heat from a heat pump is not free heat like the solar panels.

Good Luck and keep us posted!

>> I am a pool builder in the Orlando / Central Florida area...

>> I have a heat pump on my pool and love it!

Can you tell me why you went with a heat pump rather than propane gas? Since you're a pool builder, I'm curious to hear your reasons.

Thanks!

Soundsgood,

I have a pool and spa on my own personal pool so I only use the heat pump (130,000 BTU Summit SUM7) for the pool since it is more efficient and cheaper than gas. I have a 400,000 BTU natural gas heater that I primarily use for the spa because it heats very quickly.

It is 12:30 AM here in Orlando, my pool is 89 deg. and I just turned on the spa to 101 deg for my wife and it only took 2 minutes! With the heat pump and gas heater combo you have ultimate control over your water temperature. When itÂs hot and sunny (when the solar works best) I prefer the pool to be a little cooler so itÂs refreshing. I always crank up the heat on the days it is overcast or nights because itÂs cooler outside... Unfortunately, those are the times the solar will not work properly. In fact if you try to run the solar in the evenings when its cooler and dark outside you actually cool the pool!

Many of our clients choose to do the heat pump / gas heater combo over the solar / gas heater combo. DonÂt get me wrong, solar is a great way to heat the pool. It is up to you to decide what works best to fit your needs & wants.

Bella-Orlando, do you have natural gas, or Propane? We do *not* have natural gas here (unfortunately) so I'd have to drop a tank for the propane.

I mentioned the heat pump / gas heater combo to our pool builder last week, since it made the most sense to me. But he talked us out of it, saying it would be overkill/not needed/too expensive for our pool (a 15x30 pool with 7' across spa).

Do you agree that the propane gas / electric heat combo would not make sense for us? Or ???

I don't know how much extra it would cost (I'll have to ask him) but if I was about to pay $3500ish for solar panels, maybe using the money for a propane/electric combo is not so bad??

soundsgood,

I have a 400k BTU natural gas heater for the spa. The propane (LP) heater will do the same exact thing except you will need an LP tank installed. I recommend going with the 400k BTU so it can heat the spa faster.

I have the heat pump/ gas heater combo for my pool and spa and donÂt think its overkill at all. I want the pool warm when I want to go swimming so I am willing to pay the price to heat it. Heat pumps have come a long way as far as being efficient. When choosing a heat pump check the C.O.P. rating. C.O.P. stands for Coefficient Of Performance and the higher the C.O.P rating the more heat the unit will create using less energy. This is why I like the Summit or AquaCal heat pumps. Summit is a real good value and AquaCal makes some of the best heat pumps on the market but they are expensive. I also prefer heat pumps that have Titanium heat exchangers so the chemicals in the water do not corrode it.

You should be able to get a Summit SUM 5 installed for less than a solar system. In Florida you will probably only use the heat pump for 2-3 months in the spring and 2-3 months in the fall. Heat pumps have thermostats just like an AC unit, you set the temperature and it turns on and off as needed to maintain the temperature so it does not run all the time either.

Also, if you have solar or a pool heat pump and your water in the pool is warmer than it will take less gas to heat the spa because the temperature difference that you are heating will be less.

Awesome info. Your help is much appreciated. If I lived in Orlando, I'd hire you! ;-)