Although the conversion from kilowatt hours to kilowatts is very simple, it is very important for solar panel systems, not only to help you determine the amount of electricity your home uses, but also to help you determine the size of your solar panel system and the amount of power you need to install with your solar array and inverter.
In the following article, we will introduce you to what a kilowatt hour is, what a kilowatt is, and the formula for converting between the two. After you have learned these two basic formulae, we will continue to introduce you to the conversion formula for other physical units of measurement to help you better understand and optimize your home’s solar panel system.
1. What is a kilowatt-hour and what is a watt-hour?
A kilowatt-hour is a unit of energy, also commonly used within electrical systems such as solar panels. When used to express the energy consumed by a household appliance, 1 KWh is defined as the amount of energy required to run a 1 KW appliance for 1h. In addition to this, it can also indicate the capacity of a battery bank and is a battery property data that we need to focus on when choosing a battery bank for a solar system. Watt-hour is the same as kilowatt-hour, which is also a unit of measurement of energy. 1Wh is defined as the amount of energy consumed by an appliance with a power of 1W to run for one hour.
Kilowatt hour and wattage are both units of measurement of energy and belong to the same type of physical quantity, which can be converted directly according to the multiplier relationship in the International System of Units (SIU), the specific conversion formula is:
1KWh = 1000KWh
2. How to realize the conversion from kilowatt-hours to kilowatts?
After studying the above physical quantities, it is not difficult to see, kilowatt-hours and kilowatts, although both are common units of measurement within the electrical system, but the two do not belong to the same kind of unit in nature, they are a unit of energy, a unit of power. In order to realize the conversion relationship between the two, we need to introduce an intermediate quantity: working time (T), the specific conversion formula is as follows:
P (KW) = E (KWh) ÷ T (h)
The E in the above formula refers to the energy consumed when the appliance is in operation, P refers to the power value of the appliance, and T refers to the working time of the appliance. According to the above formula, the conversion of units from kWh to kW can be realized:
kW = kWh ÷ hr
In order to better understand and grasp the above formula, the following will give you an example of practical application. When you choose to buy an air conditioner with a power of 1.5KW and keep it on for 5h per day, you can calculate the daily power consumption of the air conditioner according to the formula: 1.5KW x 5h = 7.5KWh. From this, you can judge whether the power consumption of the air conditioner is within the power supply capacity of your solar panel system, or you can choose to buy it or not according to the budget of your electricity bill.
3. Conversion from Watt-hours to Watts and between non-similar units
The conversion from watt-hours to watts can be exactly analogous to the conversion from kilowatt-hours to kilowatts, the specific conversion formula is:
P (W) = E (Wh) ÷ T (h)
It is important to note that when converting from a unit of energy to a unit of power, it is important to ensure that the two units are of the same class. For example, kilowatt-hours and kilowatts are in the same class, as are watt-hours and watts. However, when you need to convert between units that are not in the same class, e.g. from watt-hours to kilowatts or from kilowatt-hours to watts, you need to do the calculation in steps. You will need to do the calculation step by step, as explained below using watt-hours to kilowatts as an example:
First, start by converting one of the units to the equivalent unit of the other according to the International System of Units:
1Wh = 0.001KWh.
Then, the sibling unit obtained from the conversion is directly substituted into the relevant formula for calculation, i.e.:
P (KW) = E (KWh) ÷ T (h)
The following is an example: If you have a mobile power with a capacity of 1000Wh, how much power do you need to carry in order to achieve the requirement of 5h of power supply. The calculation process is as follows:
1000Wh = 1KWh
P=1KWh÷5h=0.2KW
After learning the above conversions, you will be able to make analogous calculations for other non-similar units.
4. What equipment within a solar panel system can be used to convert from kilowatt-hours to kilowatts?
There are a number of solar system devices that are involved in the conversion of energy to power, the most important of which are solar inverters and solar battery.
Solar Inverters
A solar inverter is an important electrical device that connects the solar panels to the power lines of your home appliances. Its main purpose is to convert the direct current from your solar panels into alternating current and supply it to your appliances.
But the truth is, since the demand for your home appliances is not always there, the power produced by your solar panel system every hour is first stored in the inverter’s batteries. In order to ensure that your solar inverter batteries will not remain low all year round and experience degradation issues such as damaged batteries sold, you need to choose the right size of inverter batteries for you.
In order to choose the right inverter battery, you need to know the amount of electricity your household uses (usually measured in kilowatt-hours), and the generating capacity of your solar panel system (usually measured in watts). It’s a combination of these data that will help you choose the right solar inverter batteries that are not far in excess of your home’s storage needs.
Solar Batteries
The main purpose of a solar array is to store the excess power produced by the solar panels during the day, so that there is a continuous supply of electricity to keep appliances running at night and during inclement weather conditions. For most homes today, installing a solar array is worthwhile, as it can go a long way in increasing the percentage of your home that is powered by your solar panel system, saving you a significant amount of money on your electricity bill. But it’s important to choose a solar panel that’s right for you.
In order to choose the right size solar panel, first we need to know how much power your solar system will produce (simply multiply the power rating by the peak sunlight hours) as a way to make sure you don’t oversize your solar panel. Secondly, you need to know the amount of electricity your home uses (in kilowatt hours) as a way to make sure your solar array is not too small.
