The 400-square foot unit has solar panels on its roof, which are capable of producing 2 kilowatts of power. The unit also has a prototype backup propane generator, bamboo flooring, LED lighting, recycled axels and tires, recycled lumber composite decking, rinnai on-demand water heating, energy efficient heating and air-conditioning.

The unit has also been equipped with a complete assortment of eco-friendly cleaning and bathroom products, including coreless toilet paper that leaves no cardboard core at the end of the roll. Even the unit’s Amish-style furniture has been manufactured from recycled milk jugs and recycled hickory wood.

“We are very proud of this unit,” said Tim Gage, Cavco’s vice president, after trucking the 400-square foot cottage 2,600 miles to the Herkimer Diamond KOA campground in upstate New York. “It demonstrates not only the extent to which campgrounds are pursuing green initiatives, but it shows what Cavco is capable of producing as a company.”

Tim tells me that they are getting so many emails and requests for smaller homes and of course solar. With all the Green elements and 2KW of Off Grid Solar it will be available for $68,000 to the public. Freight, Generator and set-up is additional. One other item that I wanted to mention was that GENERAC is using a prototype propane generator for off grid living on the lodge. Very quiet when running.

For more information on Cavco’s eco-friendly park models, please contact Tim Gage at (602) 763-5488. www.cavcoparkhomes.com

I have been communicating with Tim Gage, vice president of Cavco’s Specialty Division about the company’s new off-grid solar park model home. Tim has shared with me the following information from his press release regarding this new home.

The solar home has a $47,000 starting price, and this home shown here has options that top it out around $70,000.

Options like Bamboo flooring, upgrade slate tile backsplashes, upgrade kitchen cabinets, 12’ sliding glass doors etc. If you are in the Pomona, California area, you can view this model at the California RV Show through October 19, 2008. Be sure and page down to view all the pictures and a floor plan of the solar powered park model.

Cavco becomes nation’s first company in the RV Business to produce factory delivered, Solar-Powered Park Models.

Cavco’s park models, which are used as vacation cottages at campgrounds and RV resorts across the country, are now being equipped with solar panels and batteries provided through an exclusive arrangement with Ready Solar Inc. of Redwood City, Calif.

The recreational park trailer or “park model” industry is gaining notoriety as growing numbers of consumers discover that the 400-square foot cottage-like units can be permanently placed in campgrounds and RV resorts and used as low cost vacation cabins.

But thanks to Phoenix-based Cavco Industries, consumers who purchase these units will not only obtaining a vacation cottage at a fraction of the price of a site built home or condo. They’re also doing something positive for the environment.

Cavco has become the first park model manufacturer in the country to produce solar powered park models.

“We believe we are the first company in the RV business to produce a trailer product that can produce its own electrical power,” said Tim Gage, vice president of Cavco’s Specialty Division, which produces park model cabins. He added that demand for the 400-square foot cabins has been “off the charts” since the company introduced the product in June.

Still relatively unknown to most consumers, recreational park trailers or “park models” are 400-square foot movable resort cottages that are designed exclusively for part-time recreational use. Typically upscale in appearance, they often include hardwood floors, bay windows and lofts as well as cherry, oak or maple cabinetry.

And because park models are technically classified as recreational vehicles, they can be set up on leased or purchased sites in campgrounds and RV parks and used as weekend retreats or seasonal vacation dwellings.

But unlike most trailer products, which have to be hooked up to electrical utilities, Cavco’s solar powered park models have enough panels to generate their own power. The units come equipped with energy efficient light bulbs and kitchen appliances, including tankless water heaters, as well as maintenance free batteries that are designed to store enough power to last for two days. Gasoline-powered generators are also provided as an emergency backup system. But Gage said he anticipates that most of Cavco’s solar powered park models will be sold to consumers in Southwestern, Rocky Mountain and Sunbelt states, where there is plenty of sunshine to keep the batteries charged.

Cavco is providing the solar technology through an exclusive arrangement with Redwood City, Calif.-based Ready Solar, Inc. He said the solar packages, which include panels and batteries, add about $5,000 to $7,000 to the price of a park model, depending on the park model’s solar energy requirements. The typical park model sells for about $40,000 without the solar power capability.

“Our adoption of solar energy systems is the first chapter of our efforts to develop green park models,” Gage said, adding, “There will likely be 10 more chapters as we get further into this.”

For more information on Cavco’s park models or its solar energy systems, please contact Tim Gage at (602) 763-5488 or Meredith McClintock at Ready Solar Inc. at (650) 255-1828 and visit their respective websites at www.cavcoparkhomes.com and www.readysolar.com.

Cavco Kitchen

Cavco Living Room

Cavco Bathroom

Cavco Bedroom

Ready Solar Instruments

Cavco Freedom-6 Floor Plan

Cavco Off Grid at RV Show in Pomona, CA

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