Factory solar systems

[Lakelife]

Does anyone know anything about the new super solar flex system? I haven’t been able to find any pricing from our local dealer or others I’ve reached out to. A factory installed and warrantied system sounds like a great option to me but I can’t get anyone to say how much it costs.

[rohrmann]

This might help:
https://gpelectric.com/product-categ...ex-kits-solar/

[jeffba]

It was announced at the fall Rally. I think it is stioll in the testing/engineering phase.
4 265W panels screwed in BattleBorn batteries, soft start ACs and more. I did not hear the price.

[Desert Rat]

Originally Posted by jeffba

It was announced at the fall Rally. I think it is stioll in the testing/engineering phase.
4 265W panels screwed in BattleBorn batteries, soft start ACs and more. I did not hear the price.

As I am looking at new a Montana this is starting to look interesting, I may have to wait a year! Hot Dog!

[Lakelife]

The 2020 brochure says the system includes
4 grid style 265 watt solar panels
A 60 amp MPPT controller
2 250 amp hour dragonfly energy lifepi4 batteries
225 amp precision circuits battery guard
3000 watt hybrid inverter with every electrical outlet inverted
50 amp precision circuits management system
2 15,000 btu power saver air conditioner with soft start

With that set up you can boondocks for a long time

[Desert Rat]

Thanks for the info on the solar upgrade, the catalog the "saleman" gave me didn't mention the upgraded Solar Package, I boondock from about Sept. 1st to about May 15. so that would be of great interest. On your description of the Solar Package it says it included a 300 watt hybrid inverter, should that say "3000 watt"?

[jeffba]

Dragonfly== Battle Born

[Lakelife]

Yes 3,000 watt hybrid converter. Team Montana just got back with me on a price. According to them it’s a $15,000 option. Out of my league for now but it’s honestly probably about what it would cost to put that kind of a solar package together. Dragonfly doesn’t even list a 250 amp hour battery. The 100 amp hour is $800

[jeffba]

Tehy battery is especially made for this application

[Mclord]

My dealer just quoted me $19,000US MSRP which probably equates to the $15,000 mentioned above. Similar systems installed by aftermarket guys are going to be in the same ball park. There are lots of questions. I’m not sure which Magnum inverter they are using but I can’t find a model that handles two legs of fifty amp incoming power. Appears to have two MPPT charge controllers which suggests two strings on the solar panels. But again finding technical information is difficult. Having it fall under the warranty would be great however, should there be any issues with the system it is unlikely most dealer techs will have the knowledge to deal with this. I’ll continue down my own path. It also appears to consume most if not all of the front storage bay and I hope to be a lot more space conscious.

[PNW Fireguy]

Dragonfly is definitely the spin-offin-house OEM brainchild of Dennis and Sean. If someone is not electrically inclined it’s not a bad way to go at all just premium spend. If you some DIY ability you can get twice the bang for the same buck.

[FreeRoamn]

Here's the latest announcement. If I were buying a new rig I would definitely give this a hard look as we do some boondocking and I have looked into putting in my own system with Battle Born Batteries, solar, etc. The issue is going to be price for the convenience of having the system OEM.

https://rv-pro.com/features/dragonfl...c2MDE2NDU1NAS2

[BiggarView]

The factory option is very expensive and there is always the fear the OEM will cheap out on things to cut costs. So far it looks like Montanas will have decent components with this option. You can also get a kickass system installed by RV Solar Solutions(they have a great reputation) for a lot less than $15,000. The price killer is the LiFePO4 batteries. Not everybody will want them. Their plus is weight savings... important for full timers, not so much for part timers. Worth checking into. A second plus with the Battleborns is the warranty and the ability to easily add drop in batteries to increase your battery bank if your needs change. We are considering this route. Genny, 3000W hybrid inverter and 400AH to start, then add solar (plenty of room on the roof of our 3813MS. Then increase the battery bank to 600AH. Less of a shock to the bank account spread out this way. Down side... we might miss out on the tax credit currently 26% of the cost, next year it drops to 22% then disappears in 2022. So we might bite the bullet on the whole shebang and wipe about $3000 off our tax bill next april. Food for thought. OR, you could do some reading and DIY and save big. Its not really rocket science and knowledge is power.

[kowbra]

We are looking to purchase our first Montana, and interested in solar... but not sure if I want to go to the regular (1x 265 watt) or the Super Solar package. Good info in this thread...
We have a local guy who is knowledgeable and has done solar for us on other units, but here are observations and questions about aftermarket...
-the built in solar prep wiring is 10 guage; this seems to be true for all 2021 Montana's, but is not adequate for the 1000 watts + of the super solar package... so, do they upgrade the wiring in the super solar package? There is often no real easy way to re-run heavier wire into existing "solar prep" areas.
-having all of the outlets wired to the inverter, along with the power management seems tough to replicate after market... for example, some have said that if you have the AC on and run the microwave, it may beep so that you turn off the AC then run the microwave, instead of burning something up; will that be normal with aftermarket?

We live about 5-6 months per year in our 5th wheel, but boondock only part of that; a week or 2 here, a week there, etc. So, while I think that the Super Solar package is very interesting, I am likely more interested in the regular solar. I will look for threads about that one...

Thanks,
Brad

[Lakelife]

We got the single 265w panel factory solar package. We plan on adding a second panel and 300ah of lithium. The 5 inverted outlets are enough for us while boondocking. If we need AC or anything else we got the Onan generator for that. The additional 15k for the bigger package didn’t make sense to us especially after learning you can’t get a generator with it.

[kowbra]

Originally Posted by Lakelife

We got the single 265w panel factory solar package. We plan on adding a second panel and 300ah of lithium. The 5 inverted outlets are enough for us while boondocking. If we need AC or anything else we got the Onan generator for that. The additional 15k for the bigger package didn’t make sense to us especially after learning you can’t get a generator with it.

Thanks lakelife!

I'm concerned about whether the regular solar flex kit will support another panel... I understand it's 10 guage wire -will it work without a lot of line loss?

Then, same question for the solar flex kit charge controller at 30a... will that take advantage of the extra panel?

I like the option of 300ah of lithium; where are your sourcing, and can you share approximate price?

Last, is it an option to order a 2nd panel from Montana, or is this something the dealers order in, or did you source on your own? If the last, where did you get it, and what was the model/part number?

Thanks in advance for your help!
Brad

[Lakelife]

When I spoke to Jaboni which is who makes the components in the system they said the small package will support one additional 265w panel. Anything more and you’d have to upgrade just about everything. We plan on going with battle born lithium probably the G2 battery smaller footprint than the standard battery.

[kowbra]

Originally Posted by Lakelife

When I spoke to Jaboni which is who makes the components in the system they said the small package will support one additional 265w panel. Anything more and you’d have to upgrade just about everything. We plan on going with battle born lithium probably the G2 battery smaller footprint than the standard battery.

Good info, thanks!

Where are you sourcing your 265 watt panel? On the Jaboni site they list $683 for that panel, which is more than double what other sites list it for...

Are you thinking 2x 100ah batteries with the 2 panels?

Thanks,
Brad

[Lakelife]

Probably go with the same exact panel. Going through FSI in Indiana when they have the next Montana rally in Goshen. We have a residential fridge so I think we’re gonna do 300ah just to be safe. We’d like to boondock more in the future.

[kowbra]

So, I talked to the Super Solar designer, Matt, today and learned a few more details; for those who may be interested in this solution...

-the AC units are not just a soft start added. They draw 9 amps when running, so much more efficient than normal roof top units
-they are now adding 300 watt panels for a total of 1200 watts (noted earlier)
-they will be upgrading the MPPT charge controllers to dual 40 amp models
-there is a panel in the solar system box that is removed to add another 500ah of lithium; this could be other sizes of lithium and other manufacturers as long as the charge profile matches
-they are working on a drop in package from Keystone with dual DragonFly GC3 batteries for those who want to add a turn key 510ah upgrade to a total of 1020ah
-the design goal was that this would serve to run the entire coach and in many conditions would fully charge the batteries each day
-for those who may think their usage may tax or exceed the design, they do have the upgrade path as above, but also are suggesting that a portable generator could be used. For example, in situations where a solar only solution would be taxed, such as cloud, forest, etc, then even a larger system may not be enough. Of course, one could just keep overbuilding with more panels and battery storage to account for worst case scenario... or carry a small 2000w generator to charge the batteries for those times

I do hope this information is helpful for those considering this solution.
We placed our order including the Super Solar Flex and will be trying it out later this year. I will update all once we are able to test it.


Brad