solar package

[nebfox]

can someone tell me what the basic solar package on the montana does? Also if say your power goes out how long will i be able to run the refrigerator and or lights. not sure if this is dumb questions or not i just could not find anything about the basic solar but alot about the super solar. thanks for any help, phil

[Montana Man]

Not a dumb question, but a tough question. There are many variables involved before you can answer the question. Hours of sunlight, battery capacity, type of fridge, hours of use, etc. The fellas will chime in with a lot of info. Research the subject long and hard before spending that kind of money.

[nebfox]

im not really interested in the super solar but maybe the basic one just in case we lose power for a few hours or maybe fire up the frig. before we head out to get it cooled off

[kowbra]

Originally Posted by nebfox

can someone tell me what the basic solar package on the montana does? Also if say your power goes out how long will i be able to run the refrigerator and or lights. not sure if this is dumb questions or not i just could not find anything about the basic solar but alot about the super solar. thanks for any help, phil

Hi and welcome!

I will assume that by the "basic solar package" you are referring to the Montana "Solar Flex" package. The Montana Solar Flex package includes a single 300 watt panel, a 30amp solar charge controller, a 2000 watt inverter and the associated victron battery monitor and other electronic bits. But it does not include batteries. As a new order option, the price should be about $1500 or less and is a very good deal compared to purchasing after and paying to have it installed.

It's up to you and/or your dealer to decide on what batteries to purchase and install. Without discussing an upgrade, most dealers will install a single 12v auto battery that is not at all ideal for running much if the power dies. A great place to start is to add a single 100ah lithium battery. This will pair nicely with the 300 watt solar panel, but better would be to add 2x 100ah lithium batteries.

As noted by others, this is a subject that can get complex very quickly.
But to make it as simple as possible, I will share this:
-refrigerators are energy hogs. Whether a residential fridge or an RV fridge running on electric, the fridge alone will use up most of the power stored in a 100ah lithium battery. If you have an RV fridge (we do), then run it off propane not battery. If residential, then you should consider at least 200ah of lithium battery and at least 1 more 300 watt panel.

-lights in new Montana's are all LED and are not an energy hog. If you take away the fridge as above, from a single 100ah lithium battery you could run your lights and watch TV for a few hours in the evening and if you have good sunlight the 300 watt panel could charge that up the next day. If cloudy you may need to run a portable generator to top up. With a similar setup, we could boondock for a few days by monitoring our energy usage.

I hope that gives you a start.

Brad

edit: I see your other post about running it for a few hours; in that case, I would recommend a single 100ah lithium battery as a place to start. Battleborn gets good reviews. You could also consider 2x 6v 225ah golf cart batteries as a cheaper option...

[nebfox]

thanks for that info kowbra it really helps and i think we need to talk to our dealer about it and see if its not to late to put it in the order. by the way we ordered a 3231ck legacy with coutage white cabinets and they said should be the end of feb. or beging of march

[kowbra]

Originally Posted by nebfox

thanks for that info kowbra it really helps and i think we need to talk to our dealer about it and see if its not to late to put it in the order. by the way we ordered a 3231ck legacy with coutage white cabinets and they said should be the end of feb. or beging of march

That's an awesome looking new floorplan, and I think the cottage white will look great in that.
All the best with getting an on time delivery.

Brad

[AZ Traveler]

Diana,

The batteries are typically installed at the dealer vice the factory so you should not be late to add a couple of decent sized deep cycle batteries.

[rames14]

We also just ordered a 3230CK. We do a fair amount of boondocking, so we went Super Solar. The new Montana’s are set up for Lithium or Lead Acid. I recommend that you strongly consider lithium. As mentioned earlier, 200 AH would be a minimum. We have 4 golf cart batteries in our current unit. That’s 270 Ah of usable power and brewing coffee and watching some TV during non-generator hours takes us to about 60% (50%max discharge) without a residential fridge. It sounds like you are only wanting in case of an outage. Your fridge should stay cold for about 24 hours. You just need to decide your needs and go from there. Enjoy the new 3230. We’re expecting ours in April.