Solar pool heater

A solar pool heater, comprising:

• a floatation vessel comprising a buoyant chamber surrounding an enclosed waterproof housing;
• a water-heating photothermal module arrayed above the floatation vessel for exposure to the sun, said photothermal module further comprising a black spiral fluid conduit seated atop said floatation vessel for direct exposure to the sun, said black spiral fluid conduit having an input and an output;
• a pump assembly connected to the black spiral fluid conduit or said photothermal module for intermittently pumping water through the photothermal module;
• a first temperature sensor for sensing temperature in the photothermal module;
• and
• a second temperature sensor for sensing temperature of pool water;
• a second temperature sensor for sensing ambient pool water temperature;
• a microcontroller in communication with said pump assembly, said first temperature sensor and said second temperature sensor for activating said pump assembly to intermittently expel a partial volume of heated water from the output of said photothermal module while inducting an equal volume of unheated water into the input of said photothermal module when a temperature differential between the first temperature sensor and the second temperature sensor exceeds a preset threshold.

A solar pool heater, comprising:

• a floatation vessel;
• a water-heating photothermal module arrayed above the floatation vessel for exposure to the sun, said water-heating photothermal module further comprising a black spiral fluid conduit seated atop said floatation vessel for direct exposure to the sun, said black spiral fluid conduit having an input and an output;
• a pump for intermittently pumping water through the photothermal module;
• and
• a first temperature sensor for sensing temperature inside the spiral fluid conduit of said photothermal module;
• a second temperature sensor for sensing ambient pool water temperature;
• and
• a microcontroller in communication with said pump, said first temperature sensor, and said second temperature sensor for activating said pump to intermittently expel a partial volume of water from the output of the spiral fluid conduit of said photothermal module while inducting an equal partial volume of unheated pool water into the input.