How Many Amps Does a 500 Watt Load Draw From a 12V Battery?
A 500 watt load draws 41.7 amps from a 12V battery. Including inverter efficiency losses (95 percent), the actual draw from the battery is…
Solar Basics
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Category: Solar Basics
Solar Basics
Grid-Tie Solar Explained | How It Works, Costs and Pros vs Cons
A grid-tie solar system connects your solar panels directly to the utility grid through a grid-tie inverter. There is no battery — excess solar…
Solar Basics
What Happens If You Use a Higher Voltage Adapter? (And Is a Higher Amp Adapter Safe?)
A higher voltage adapter can damage or destroy your device. A higher amp adapter is perfectly safe. These are two completely different things, and…
Solar Basics
How Many Solar Panels Can I Fit on My Roof?
The number of solar panels that fit on your roof depends on four factors: the usable area after fire code setbacks, the panel size…
Solar Basics
What Size Inverter to Run a Fridge From a Car Battery?
To run a standard household fridge from a car or deep-cycle 12V battery, you need a 500 to 800 watt pure sine wave inverter.…
Solar Basics
What Gauge Wire From Battery to Inverter? (AWG Sizing Guide)
The cable from battery to inverter carries the highest current in any solar or backup system. A 3 kVA inverter at 12V draws 250…
Solar Basics
Solar Cable Sizing Guide: How to Choose the Right Wire for Your System
Undersized cables are the most common and most dangerous mistake in solar installations. A cable that is too thin for the current it carries…
Solar Basics
How to Choose the Right Adapter for Any DC or AC Device
Every year thousands of devices are destroyed by the wrong adapter. The replacement cost is not the adapter — it is the device. A…
Solar Basics
How to Size an MPPT Charge Controller for Your Solar System
An undersized MPPT charge controller wastes solar energy by capping what reaches your batteries. An oversized one wastes money. And one with insufficient voltage…
Buying Guides
Hybrid Inverter vs Separate Components: Which Is Better?
Every solar system needs three core functions: a charge controller to manage solar-to-battery charging, an inverter to convert DC battery power to AC, and…