Solar Powered Pontoon Boat #1

[moecat1000]

how much do the solar panels help assuming a sunny day ..you talked about recharging at night with the on shore power...how long would the batterie charge last with out the solar panels ..can the solar panels recharge the battiers in one day

[prettybear765]

solar power is much cheaper if you can build and wire your own systems if you are a good electrician these systems are reasonable to build but i would not recomend for someone with no experience

[davetileguy]

wow a boat with a solar panel ,electric motor and some batteries! who would have thought that was possible! you'd think this was invented yesterday! LMFAO!! rubes!

[cchanderson]

Hydrogen is the answer...the only answer. Everything can make hydrogen...solar, wind, nuclear, diesel, gas etc...anything that can make electricity can make hydrogen gas. All you need to make Hydrogen is water and electricity. Stick a 12 volt battery charger cables on two stainless steel plates 1/4 inch apart in distilled water with baking soda. Burning hydrogen gives the extreme horsepower needed for recreational vehicles and watercraft. Someone is STUCK ON STUPID.

[Ebbtide007]

@cchanderson It may be you. Sorry. Producing hydrogen from water through electrolysis results in less energy in the form of hydrogen than went into the process. Using nuclear, diesel, etc. to produce hydrogen will result in your having less energy than you started out with. If you used solar or wind to produce hydrogen you would have been better off just using the electricity produced directly. If you want to see something interesting Google hydrogen production from aluminum and gallium.

[kirbylee57]

The decking used on the floor must be very expensive or a downside of some sort. If not this man just changed the way pontoon builders have built floors for decades. No need to over sell your boat though. Your plastic or what ever floor does not provide more traction than wood, but im sure will last longer . Cost more than plywood? I would pay more, maybe double.

[stermr]

@kirbylee57 What was the flooring? Some links you know about?

[MercuryReliance]

Hi Doc! Is this guy still in business? I would like to get in touch with him regarding an event that would highlight his products (check out my channel/website). I look forward to your reply - oh, thanks for posting this! MRI

[dafranx]

1) Would a fuel cell boat be a good choice for all people, or not?

2) If cars and buses be hybrids, why can't boats and ships be hybrids as well?

[DrBongWater]

@dafranx Hydrogen made from the sun to feed the hydrogen cell that makes electricity OR sun directly to the lead acid battery? It's all the same thing.

[dafranx]

@DrBongWater So, fuel cell energy and solar energy are the same thing; am I right or not?

[carphunter963]

you guys are stupid. if you want to spend as much as you spent on the boat itself. go ahead and get it.

[bryanjk]

You said the floor is extruded vinyl. Where do I purchase this material at? are there any other lightweight alternatives to plywood?

[masterlocdown]

I would like to know this also. Where do I get this extruded vinyl decking and how much is it compared to plywood?

[RobertBlaize]

Ok. I believe,

Now, where do I buy one?

To be more practical do you offer a conversion kit for my existing pontoon boat.

What I would like would be to retrofit a solar kit to suplemant the existing gas motor.

[GBH2o4u]

My goodness thats a beautiful craft, I have a sugestion that I am sure you will find useful its possible to get somewhere about 4x the power from the solar cells on the craft,how that works is by simply magnifing the suns rays, How I that is possible is with a clear plastic cover that would cover each cell, what is special about it is it would be molded to have small arches across the whole cover this intensifys the suns rays similar to a magnifing glass, I pray this info is benifital!

[aberneth]

If you shine a light through a magnifying glass, it becomes more intense because it is more focused. The intrinsic definition of light is reducing area of the beam image. Intensity will increase, area will decrease, you will have the same number of photons hitting the solar panels.

[1989FtB]

nice things bout pontoons is that you can pullem with anything, i pull my 18ft pontoon with my fourweller couse we live right at the lake and i just hook it up and put put down the road and put it in.

[TOMANDKATIE]

YO that was Awesome Guys!

I Give you all the best of luck with what your doing!

[DrBongWater]

and cause drag too.

I can see doing that when you've got wind in your sails.

The next step is a better battery.

[rja777]

Dude,this is cool, These are a great idea! See it through.

[inrface1]

It's a decent execution of a great idea! But, I would do a couple of things differently:

1 - Add vertical axis wind turbines to supplement charging.

2 - Include a small (1kw to 3kw) auxilliary gasoline or propane powered generator to charge the batteries in an emergency or to greatly extend range.

[thedavest]

Thanks for this video. A beautiful use of renewable energy.

[b18c5integra]

ok but i still like the gas power

[DrBongWater]

I'm going to build an on-board hydrogen generator to supplement my gas powered vehicles. Fuel savings 20 to 1000% improvement. Imagine a back-up system for windless and cloudy days.

[SenorStrange]

You should incorporate a wind generator to charge the batteries when the sun is not available.

[DrBongWater]

and get those Lithium Ion batteries too!

[nerblebun]

@DrBongWater Speaking of batteries,how many amps are required to run the charger ? I was thinking I could take my super quiet Honda 2000 watt generator and give the batteries an 8 hr. charge using only about a gallon and a half of gasoline.

[cleaner74]

freaking sweet pontoon boat... i want one..

[MuskokaLad]

You should advertise this boat in Muskoka. Cottage life magazine and the Muskokan. Lots of boating up there obviously. Great Idea. I'd like to see the loon some day...ill keep an eye out.

[MuskokaLad]

wik'd man....just need the sun and a cooler full of beer