Solar Breeze NX2 | Expert Review And Feature Guide

This independent website is funded by its readers. It can earn a commission on any purchases made through product links, at no extra cost to the buyer.  Learn more >

Of course solar power means no pool pump required, no pesky hoses, no power cables, no noise, nothing.  

So the Solar Breeze appears to be a truly independent launch and forget solution to wind blown debris and dust contamination in your pool.

This young company has quickly carved out a significant niche and reputation for themselves in the pool maintenance market. Like many good inventions and ideas they seem obvious after they appear and a few companies are now trying to play catch up.

Is the Solar Breeze still top of the class, we’re going to find out…….

This is the second generation solar powered skimmer produced by Arizona based Solar Pool Technologies.

The current NX2 model has incorporated a number of upgrades and improvements over the old including using UV protected polypropylene and glass fiber blend to build the chassis. It’s more resistance to UV rays, so less prone to deterioration. Blended material adds extra toughness and durability to the product too.

There’s a number of other new features and older elements to look at,  and we’ll walk you through all of them.

Solar Breeze NX2 Features in Depth

General Principles:  The Solar Breeze has twin paddles, the rear paddle provides the forward or reverse motion and the front paddle scoops the debris and dust into the generous collection basket as it navigates around your pool. The basket is lined with a fine polyester mesh to trap dust and micro particles as well as larger pool flotsam Removal, flushing and cleaning is a breeze.

Smart Navigation:  The Solar breeze isn’t too smart, but it’s not dumb either. It doesn’t have the onboard computing power of some of the high end robotic cleaners but it really doesn’t need it. This skimmer is a foot soldier not an elite warrior, but it’s got all the basic training programmed in to complete its chores.

So how’s it done? The skimmer has two bumper wheels on each of the front corners that rotate in different directions. When it nudges the pool side the bumper wheels push it of in a different direction. It might seem a bit random but in fact it quite effective in getting the pool surface fully cleaned up. It’s really only got one job, that’s looking after your pool surface and it does that pretty darn well.

Operating Mode: Well nothing complicated here, if you can flip a switch then you’re good to go. It’s simple as that, there’s just an on / off switch to worry about !  Quite a relief when compared to some other robotic pool cleaners that almost need a degree in computer science to run them.

Solar Breeze have made life as simple as possible for the owner, all the heavy lifting has been pre-programmed into the skimmer. That’s why it’s an autonomous, hands off product. You just have to launch it into open water and it will take care of the rest.

Solar Power:    What we like about this skimmer is it carries a water proof rechargeable lithium battery on board. That means the two 6V solar panels can store surplus energy.

After running all day on a normal sunny day it will have stored enough excess solar energy to continue working for a few more hours in darkness. If you live in a sun belt state then this little work horse can run practically 24 / 7 if needed just using the suns rays for power.

Chemical Dispenser:  At first glance this might seem just a bit of a gimmick but in fact it’s a really useful extra feature.

A Solar Breeze investment could cut pool pump run times. So it’s useful to have a secondary method of dosing your pool with chemicals.

That’s where the onboard chemical dispenser comes in. It’s designed to take 2 x 3 inch chlorine tablets.  It should sanitise your pool in a much more effective way than a mere floater. The skimmer navigates your pool and disperses chlorine evenly to all parts. We like that a lot.

Debris Collection Tray:   Well here we are at the heart of the beast. This is what it’s all about collecting debris. The flotsam on top of your pool is scooped into and kept in the tray by the front paddle rotation. It’s a pretty ingenious system actually and works quite well.

The tray is lined with a fine polyester mesh to trap fine dust and particles as well as leaves which is great, but there is no data on specific dust sizes it will trap in microns.

All’s good then, but the only drawback comes when it’s time to pull the skimmer out of the water to clean out the collection tray. Because of the tray design care must be taken not to dump the tray contents back into the pool when retrieving the skimmer back on to dry land.

We’d call the capacity of the tray more than adequate, the manufacturer actually claims it to be twice the size of the average skimmer basket. We think that’s approximately correct.

Hunt The Sun Mode:  The skimmer has this useful pre-programmed mode that kicks in when the battery is low.

It will normally activate this mode early morning or at the end of the days work. It will operate normally and navigate the pool for two minutes looking for sunlight to recharge the battery. If it finds no effective sunlight it will shut down for eight minutes then restart for a further two minutes. It’ll continue doing this until the sun comes out or the battery fully depletes when it goes to sleep mode.

How does the Solar Breeze NX2 Stack Up?

Well the Solar Breeze NX2 is one of those purchases that you might look at as an investment.

It costs plenty but it should start making your money back right away by reducing pump run time, the manufacturer claims a reduction of up to 50%.

We think the manufacturers claims are not unrealistic, but will vary a little between states, with the sunbelt states coming out best. So on a large pool with a large output pump you could enjoy a quite substantial power saving.

If the Solar Breeze is run in conjunction with a good fully robotic pool cleaner then you’ve got a set up that not only allows you to put your feet up but also could save 80 – 90% of pump run time.  So all in all that’s definitely a set up worth considering.

At first the Solar Breeze may seem a bit of an indulgence but on closer inspection it does stack up as a really useful pool maintenance assistant. The chlorine tablet distribution tray is what really sold us on it. That really cements the claim of substantially reduced pump run times for us. Of course it’ll do a great job cleaning up the water surface too, just like it says on the box !!

Solar Breeze NX2 Main Points

Our Good and Not So Good

An “ at a glance” guide of the most important features and benefits the NX2 offers owners. There are also some characteristics that were a tad disappointing too. The minus side list is pretty short though. 

Review Wrap Up and Conclusions 

A leaf net and a rod costs $20 or less and your pool already has a skimmer so why would you spend this kind of money on the Solar Breeze NX2 ?  

Good question, and that was our very first question too. So is this a pool gadget too far, or is there a compelling reason why you should consider purchasing this solar powered skimmer.

Well after our deep dive into the product we were surprised to find a number of sound reasons why the Solar Breeze isn’t just a gimmick, but a rather useful preventative and proactive pool maintenance tool.  

The clue is in the name, “Solar Breeze”,  it’s run by solar power, and that’s satisfying on a number of levels. However it may be free energy but that doesn’t seem to make any real financial sense.. No financial sense that is until you understand what you’re buying and it’s implications. 

You’re not only getting a solar powered skimmer cruising around your pool but a mobile chemical dispenser too. In fact it’s taking care of a lot of the work that a traditional pool skimmer loaded with chlorine tabs does.  

That means your pool pump needn’t be run just to skim or dispense chemicals.  The pump still need to be run to filter the pool water though. But wait, because the Solar Breeze is skimming and scooping up leaves, dust and pollen from the pools surface even the pump run time for water filtration can be reduced too.  

We like the concept of this the Solar Breeze NX2 a lot. It definitely has a place in our pool shack. On it’s own it’s a really worthwhile purchase that will start to repay you straight away, combined with a good smart robotic cleaner it could save an interesting amount of pump run time. Just a single full circulation maybe enough to keep the pool pristine. Now that’s pretty interesting.

Should you invest in a Solar Breeze NX2 ?  Well if you’ve got a medium to large pool installation you should carefully consider one. We think it’s a real winning product, one that you’ll probably wish you’d bought years earlier..

Brilliant Alternative Pool Solar Skimmer

Images from Amazon Product Advertising