Local Company Introduces Solar Powered Boat Charging Stations

July 27, 2017 6:19 pm

By: Tim Studebaker

Email: tstudebaker@abc6.com

NEWPORT, R.I. – It’s the first of its kind. A company in Newport is harnessing the sun’s energy to power boats.

PowerDocks Managing Partner Anthony Baro says, “This is our first product called Blue Isles. Blue Isles basically is a platform that is able to generate renewable energy. It’s able to store its energy, and it’s able to distribute its energy so that electric marine propulsion vessels can come in and dock and recharge.”

The platform has been in place for about 3 weeks, giving boaters a place to charge up their batteries for free. It’s part of a partnership between PowerDocks and the city of Newport to promote clean boating.

Baro says, “This particular platform is designed to generate about 2 kilowatts of power, and it actually has storage, energy storage, for about 12 kilowatt hours of power. That’s roughly enough to power 2 small three–bedroom homes.”

It stores enough energy that it could dock four boats for a week without sunshine. It’s already come in handy.

Baro says, “We had a distressed boater here in Newport that had lost power, and we were lucky to be able to have this platform over here and provide them shelter, and also be able to recharge their vessel so they could get back again at sea.”

There are plans for more this Fall.

Baro says, “We’re actually going to be launching smaller versions of this platform to be able to replace all these mooring balls that you see on the harbor over here.”

The company plans to offer the technology for use in national defense, the drone industry, water quality monitoring, and more. On top of all of that, it could offer boaters in Newport Harbor a chance to moor their boats instead of docking at the marina, which could save them significant amounts of money.