Seares Installs 5.2kW Wave-and-Solar Pontoon at Isola del Giglio

A working pontoon becomes a small power station

Seares and New Time have installed a hybrid floating pontoon at Isola del Giglio in Tuscany, combining electricity from waves and sunlight in one marina structure. The pilot was developed with the local municipality after more than four years of research, design and testing. It offers a more concrete step than a concept announcement because the platform has now been placed in a working marine environment.

The companies put the system's combined rated output at approximately 5.2 kilowatts. This should be understood as installed or expected generating capacity, not as a guarantee that the pontoon will deliver that amount continuously. Weather, wave activity, solar exposure and system losses will all influence actual power produced over a day or year.

The photovoltaic deck and wave dampers play different roles

New Time supplies walkable photovoltaic flooring so the pontoon can generate electricity during daylight while still functioning as an access structure. Beneath and alongside that deck, Seares' hydraulic Seadamp components recover part of the energy associated with wave-driven movement. Four units rated around 300 watts each account for about 1.2 kilowatts of the combined system, with the remaining 4 kilowatts attributed to solar.

This mixed architecture seeks to address the limitations of each individual source. Solar generation declines after sunset, whereas wave-induced movement can continue at night when conditions allow. Neither source is predictable at every moment, so the electricity management and any battery storage arrangement remain important to real marina operations.

Reducing motion is part of the engineering benefit

The energy-recovery units also aim to dampen movement at the berth rather than simply produce power. The project partners report that their technology can reduce certain oscillations by as much as 90 percent in relevant conditions. This is a manufacturer-reported performance claim, not an independently demonstrated improvement for every pontoon geometry, wave state or vessel.

Combining comfort and power production is interesting to marina designers because a floating structure must be safe to walk on, compatible with mooring loads and resistant to the corrosive marine environment. Maintenance of electrical connections and moving hydraulic elements will determine whether the pilot can be replicated on a larger scale.

A pilot is not a marina-wide energy solution yet

The generated power is intended to support pontoon services and batteries on boats alongside, potentially reducing some demand from conventional shore supply. The announcement does not provide verified annual electricity production, the total installed cost or a payback period, so it would be premature to estimate savings for a commercial marina.

For yacht owners and berth operators, the significance is a different way of thinking about waterfront infrastructure: equipment that normally consumes electricity or manages motion might also help produce it. Whether the concept scales to large superyacht berths will depend on load requirements, structural design, certification and operating data collected beyond the initial installation.