This fall, Keystone RV will become the first major towable RV manufacturer to offer solar power as standard equipment on all travel trailers and fifth wheel RVs.
The move was guided by Keystone’s core mission of leveraging consumer insights to quickly bring industry-changing innovation to market, the company said.
“Over the past few years, we’ve seen demand for solar power skyrocket. As the market continues to expand and groups like Harvest Hosts, Campendium and Hipcamp offer non-traditional camp sites, we expect this trend to accelerate,” said Josh Miller, Keystone RV vice president of sales.
“We saw an opportunity for Keystone to set a much higher bar for comprehensive, affordable, state-of-the-art RV solar energy systems,” said General Manager Matt Christensen, who championed the project.
With the exception of Keystone’s destination trailers, all brands will feature one of four new SolarFlex solar energy packages that scale up in terms of energy collection, charging speed, energy storage and power availability. The Keystone Innovation Lab partnered with RV solar energy experts, Future Solutions, to bring a more user-focused solar power solution to the RV industry.
“Because Future Solutions is an independent, hands-on RV solar upfitter, they had the practical knowledge and experience to develop the customer-focused systems we were looking for,” said Jon Brock, lead innovation engineer at Keystone. “With the freedom to pick and choose the best individual components and technologies for owners and dealers, we were able to design a seamless solution with products we trusted.”
Each of the SolarFlex packages was developed to be easily expandable as campers learn more about how they want to use solar energy. The Keystone website offers expansion ideas and all components can be purchased through authorized Keystone dealers. A set common component across all Keystone brands reduces complexity for dealers and streamlines the installation of aftermarket upgrades, the company said.
As a part of the SolarFlex launch, Keystone is rolling out customer education initiatives, dealer sales training via Keystone IGNITE, dealer service training on Keystone’s Tech’s Digital Toolbox and Key Express, as well as parts ordering and stocking programs.
“This was a massive effort that involved nearly every part of our organization. Engineering, manufacturing, purchasing, quality assurance, customer service and marketing worked together to create what we believe will be the highest quality, best supported solar power program on the market for years to come,” said Jeff Runels, Keystone president and CEO. “Programs like SolarFlex are where the expertise, depth and size of our company really shine.”
