SF Man wrote:

Let's say I dropped the cleaning cycle to 12 hours a day, the next question
is still whether to clean during the day or night.

I don't know much about pools, but I've heard it is better to run the
filter/Polaris during the day. Makes sense, since we're trying to kill
algae and they feed on light.

Since there are mechanical solar heating panels, the obvious choice is to
run the pumps during the day.

If you go full-solar you'll have a huge battery bank, transfer switch,
and a giant inverter. It won't be cheap but hey, if you pole-mount the
panels in the yard; you'll have less grass to water!