The Solar Sun Ring™ is a passive solar swimming pool heating device made from two sheets of heavyweight U.V. resistant vinyl. The upper clear layer holds insulating air and focuses sunlight on the blue colored lower layer. The blue layer absorbs about 50% of the SSRs On Poolsunlight and converts it to heat. The balance of the sunlight is allowed to pass through for deep water heating. At night the contained air acts as an insulating blanket to retain heat gained during daylight.

Solar Sun Rings™ are equipped with six magnets to improve clarity and decrease hardness of the water in your pool. The magnets are positioned to facilitate rafting. The strength of the magnets will permit single position removal but will easily separate to prevent entrapment in accidental falls.

Solar Sun Rings™ were designed to be compatible with automatic pool cleaners. In the event the suction hose catches on a ring, the ring will separate from the raft to allow the pool cleaner to continue.

Neither water nor pool chemicals can evaporate through the Solar Sun Rings™ two layers of heavyweight vinyl. You will save water and chemicals about equal to the percentage of the surface covered.

Once the water in your pool has reached adequate temperature, Solar Sun Rings™ may be turned over to conserve water by limiting evaporation without significantly heating the water.

Once the design for the Solar Sun Ring™ was established the material selection began. Polyethylene plastic, which is used for all bubble pack covers, was rejected because of it's intolerance to and degradation in direct sunlight and inability to retain air.

High quality ultra violet resistant vinyl (polyvinyl chloride) is used exclusively for durability that cannot be achieved by the inferior plastic used in bubble pack covers. Vinyl will normally outlast polyethylene 3 to 1.

The vinyl used to manufacture Solar Sun Rings™ is not destroyed by pH fluctuation, higher than normal chlorine concentration or salt water systems. Furthermore, vinyl is easily repaired if punctured.

Solar Sun Rings, Inc. recently introduced a new model includes a "Water Anchor". This version of Solar Sun Rings™ is designed for high wind areas. The anchor is a series of pockets on the reverse side of the solar ring which fill with water when the ring is placed on the surface of the swimming pool. These help to keep the ring on the surface of the water when there are strong winds blowing across your pool. The Solar Sun Ring™ with anchor is recommended for use on pools that are in areas where there are frequent strong winds.

Solar Sun Rings™ come in two styles: the colourful original "Palm Tree" design, or a plain blue version. The choice is yours!

We recommend enough Solar Sun Rings™ be purchased to cover 70% to 80% of your pools surface, ignoring the small triangles between the rings. You can determine the quantity needed by using our coverage calculator.

In an ongoing test at the National Pool Industry Research Center in California Polytechnic University, San Luis Obispo and during the summer months of 2005, Solar Sun Rings™ proves a total heat input to test pools of 21,000 BTU (or 84,000 Heat Joules) per day for each unit.

This result was validated by repeatedly heating 6m x 3m test pools to a maximum of 4.44 degrees celcius in 4 days and reached plateau after that. Approximately 67% of the pool was covered with Solar Sun Rings™.

Solar Sun Rings™ may be used on all chlorine or salt water system pools, whether in ground or above ground. Common accessories such as pool cleaners and leaf catchers are able to operate normally with Solar Sun Rings™ on the pool.

The many features that give Solar Sun Rings™ greater safety at the same time allow them to be used with automatic pool cleaners. Solar Sun Rings™ are also compatible with solar panel systems giving a pool a double shot of the sun's energy during the day and great nighttime insulation.

Each Solar Sun Ring™ is 1.52m in diameter, which is the size that most adults can hold individually. With the rafting magnets attached, each Solar Sun Ring™ can be applied one by one, side by side in a matter of minutes, minimizing the need for multiple people for application and reducing trouble overall.

No bulky reel or tools are required for application.

Because of their relatively small size and the easy detachment of the rafting magnets, Solar Sun Rings™ pose little or no harm of entrapment against a object, person, or animal in case of falling in. In any such case, the fallen person or animal can easily remove the Solar Sun Ring(s)™ and swim to safety.

No other floating solar cover matches Solar Sun Rings™ design for safety. Countless pets and many people have died because of entrapment with the one piece bubble pack covers. The primary design criteria of the Solar Sun Ring™ was to prevent entrapment.

After removal from the swimming pool Solar Sun Rings™ can be easily cleaned with a sponge and white vinegar solution.

Your pool requires some direct sunlight and open water to stay healthy. The open water around the raft of Solar Sun Rings™ and the triangle caused by the convergence of three Solar Sun Rings™ is by design. These open areas allow your pool to receive some direct sunlight. This sunlight will greatly reduce the incidence of mustard algae.

On the other hand, the 100% coverage and inefficient solar effect of bubble pack covers doesn't allow this effect. By blocking all direct sunlight, mustard algae will form within a very short time. This negates the continuous use of the bubble pack covers.

The Solar Sun Ring™ with its increased solar efficiency is designed for continuous use without culturing a pool full of mustard algae.

Because the solar thermal genesis and insulation properties of Solar Sun Rings™ is so great, when they are removed from the pool, it is strongly recommended that they be stored under a shade and out of direct sunlight to prevent overheating.

Solar Sun Rings™ include a built in Hanger with Grommet to allow free hanging from a hook or pole (refer to the above diagram). Additional information can be found in the Storage Guide located in our Resources page, or here.

By using the high quality polished vinyl for the top layer and a 50% density lightly frosted lower layer, we achieved a solar efficiency that greatly surpasses bubble pack covers. The milky translucent inferior plastic used in bubble pack covers reflects much of the sun's energy and fails to allow adequate deep water heating.

Solar Sun Rings™ design and materials allow greater solar efficiency with greater nighttime insulation due to greater captive air thickness. Solar Sun Rings™ were designed to safely heat swimming pools, not cushion packages.

The effect is that Solar Sun Rings™ with 70% to 80% coverage outperform bubble pack covers with 100% coverage.

Although it is found that any object in black will absorb the most heat compared to that same object in any other color, we found through vigorous testing that a black object is not ideal to transfer this same heat that is absorbed. This is why Solar Sun Rings™ are made in a dark blue shade of material which can absorb AND transfer heat onto water better than any other color available. This was also found through vigorous testing.