Solar flair on the boil in Dargaville

A Nelson solar technology firm has designed and installed the country's biggest solar swimming pool system – in a small Northland town.

Solar Technology Systems director Frank Witowski said Dargaville, population 4672, now had one of the most modern swimming pools in New Zealand.

He said the size of the installation had scared a few people off, "but that's exactly what I like to do, push the envelope".

"People said it was too big. It wasn't everybody's cup of tea, but I'm a risk-taker."

He took four Germans and three Kiwis to Dargaville "and nailed it in 3 1/2 days".

"It's unbelievable because of the size of the job," he said. "Normally it takes a day to do just one system, but we did 63. It's like a solar farm up there."

The solar outfitting of Dargaville's new $6 million Kauri Coast Community Pool cost close to $200,000 and included 300 square metres of pipes and framing angled to capture the sun.

Almost two million litres of pool water will be pumped to the roof and run through the pipes to be warmed by a heat exchange system before being pumped back.

Mr Witowski said when the weather was ideal, the sun would heat all the water. When it wasn't, five back-up heat pumps would keep the main pool at 26 degrees Celsius.

The complex has a learners' pool, hydrotherapy facility and spray park and the main outdoor 50-metre pool. Kauri Coast Community Pool Trust chairman Vern Stevens said Solar Technology Systems had done "a fantastic job".

"We've gone for solar because it's, hopefully, in the end cheaper and greener and there's reasonable sun hours up here – not as many as you in Nelson, though," he said.

An Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority subsidy covered much of the cost.

Mr Stevens said he was expecting to keep the main pool open seven to eight months of the year, and the smaller pool all year round, by diverting the solar power.

- © Fairfax NZ News