Solar Option

[bertschb]

...Wasn’t planning on buying directly but wanted to compare the list price of parts to the cost of the Solar Option...

I was able to get the parts off the Grand Design website and then look up pricing from Jaboni and a couple other sources. This is what I found:

Jaboni 300w panel - $774
Magnum Dimensions CSW2012 2000w inverter - $600
Jaboni 30 amp MPPT solar charge controller - $180
Jaboni remote display for charge controller- $53
Jaboni docking port - $45

About $1,652 total

[Tall Paul]

About $1,652 total

interesting. Reduce the price by 40% and add back labor and you probably get close to what I paid for the upgrade $1,554 ($2,220 * 70%).

[bertschb]

Yeah, I figured the factory solar option was worth the ~$1,500 charge as well (after the discount off MSRP that I paid). The factory did the wiring and mounting for me (including drilling holes in the roof). I will likely add at least one additional 300w panel in series and replace the solar charge controller with a "larger" one.

[Smithkev]

I don't get the weird comments at the beginning of the post but it looks like a nice setup. Even though running at least one AC unit would be desirable, it would surely be a big drain on the system and maybe hard on the AC unit. Did they say why it was not wired for it?

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You need around 2800 watts to run an A/C unit. It would run off the batterys but not for more than a few mins. Here's a video of a RV with 960 watts of solar and a 9KW battery pack.
https://youtu.be/B0rZY5uotKI

[nonrev59]

So is the solar option something you can only do at a dealer. Did not notice on GD website as any options. Funny , last time at a GD dealer I had gone up on roof and saw the Jaboni connection box on roof and ask the guy and he had no clue what it was. Ha.

[bertschb]

So is the solar option something you can only do at a dealer. Did not notice on GD website as any options.

The Solar Package is a factory option for the Solitude and Momentum lines at least. I didn't check all the models but all the models I did check in the Solitude and Momentum line had the Solar Package as a factory option. Maybe you were looking at a Reflection 5th wheel or one of the travel trailers?

[chadskidmore]

It is a very recent addition to the options list. My early production 2020 Momentum only had the sat/solar prep but did not have any sort of solar option at all. It looks like now they have a lot more that you can optionally order.

[bertschb]

Here is a YouTube video from Grand Design explaining their new Solar Package. At the end of the video he mentions that it's available for Solitude and Momentum.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H_5Mn1v7K_A

[jbarnes4868]

The solar prep on my 2020 only has 10 gauge wire from roof to front compartment. If you go over 300 watts you’d probably need larger wire for the additional amps.

[cookinwitdiesel]

You will only have additional amps if you go in parallel. Series will raise the PV voltage, not amps. If you do series though, be sure you keep the voltage under what your MPPT is rated for.

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