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Svend's Solar, Wind & Electric Powered Pontoon Boat

Back in July of 2008, I wanted to take my family out on Lake Sunapee for a relaxing day of good food, sunshine and great conversation. I rented a pontoon boat, since this is the easiest for my sister, Iliana to board since she is in a wheelchair.

The day was a huge success, and because of it, I had an epiphany to build my own pontoon boat that would meet my taste and style in boats and be as "green" as possible!

Below is a computer generated "vision" I created of what I wanted my new "green" pontoon boat to look like...

By reusing an old worn out pontoon boat, I "recycled" which is the "green" thing to do, versus buying a new pontoon platform. Much of the aluminum I pulled off this boat was given to a local person who needed to "update" his very old pontoon boat... so... WIN-WIN! The next step was to add solar and electric tecnologies to get away from gas & oil and pollution...

BELOW: An Old 1986 Pontoon Boat with a non-clean burning 2 stroke engine, and "dated" blue vinyl furniture and aluminum framing... YUK! lol

The beginning... strip it down... and start again... design as I go...

The Vision Realized! The Solar Electric Pontoon Boat

As you will see, the final boat has picked up on some of my visions :) In designing and building this boat, I adjusted the design, so form follows function, which is one of the coolest parts of a project like this... going with the flow, and engineering on the fly!

Features of the Solar Electric Pontoon Boat:

• recycled pontoon boat as a starting point

• 2 HP electric motor drive driven by 4 marine grade batteries

• all FSC certified wood construction with canvas top

• batteries charged by solar energy

Plans are available for a low cost of $125

I used as much FSC certified wood as I could in building of the pontoon and the outdoor furniture I purchased

Buy Plans For This Electric Pontoon Boat