The battery cable size chart is a good way to see the effects of changing a cable size as well as deciding whether you need an upgrade.Voltage - Enter the voltage at the source of the circuit. You can use a high or low-voltage wire gauge chart to see the amount of current flowing through or the size of your cable. There are plenty of charts assocaitedf with all things batteries and solar. Wire gauges are used to measure a cable or wire’s diameter or thickness. Using a wire gauge voltage chart makes it easier to find the size you’re looking for. This is a straightforward approach as it divides the classes of cable sizes based on the cross-sectional area of the cable. The other standard for determining the battery cable size is using the International Electrotechnical Commission. If you go up one size from 0, it goes to double zero, then triple zero, ending at quadruple zero.Įvery time you increment the wire size by 1, the diameter of the cable increases by 1.123. The medium and large sizes start at the number 0. This concludes with the smaller cable size. It continues to decrease up until the number 1. If you want to go one size up from the smallest number, it goes to 39. It can be confusing at first as the smallest wire size has the biggest number. The most common method of determining the battery cable size is using the American Wire Gauge. You can also increase the voltage on your battery bank to see results. To do this, you increase the voltage on your power generation system, in this case, the solar panels. In other words, if you’re multiplying the voltage by 4, you would divide the amperage by 4. The easiest way to decrease the amperage is to double the voltage. Reducing the amount of amperage can be difficult because the load connected to your battery has a specified power input required to function. The first and second variables are relatively easy to alter as it’s simply a matter of changing the cable. The first is the length of the wire, the second is the size of the cable itself, and the final is the amperage running through the cable. Reducing Energy LossesĮnergy Loss is determined by 3 things.

This value is then divided by the system’s single or three-phase amperage.Ī calculator will give you a more accurate value so rather let the computer do all the work. You take the current measured in amps and multiply it by the cable length in meters. Voltage drop can also be manually calculated. This is typically achieved by changing the wire size variable in the calculator. When you’re calculating the voltage drop, your goal or aim should be below 3%. There are plenty of calculators online that allow you to calculate voltage drops using values obtained from wire speed and voltage charts. So the best way to choose the correct size cable for your battery is to calculate the voltage drop. The temperature of the wire rises, increasing the resistance. Let’s say your cable is exposed to light or heat. If you can’t reduce the length of the cable then check for excessive ambient temperatures. Voltage drop is a result of the amperage flowing through the cable and the total resistance of the cable itself. With whatever size you choose, you want the end goal to be an acceptable voltage drop at the end of your cable. What is the maximum amperage that I can feed through my wire?Īs much as you can answer this question by looking at a battery cable ampacity chart, there are other factors to consider besides answering a single question. When consumers are deciding on which battery cable size works best, they typically only answer one question. Understanding this relationship will make using any solar cable size calculator a breeze as you will have an idea of how wires work as well as the effects of changing them.

When you have a larger wire size and a lower resistance, you lose less electricity. However, as your resistance decreases, so too does your voltage drop at the end of the wire.Īs the voltage drop decreases, the available voltage running through the appliance goes up, and as this goes up, the power goes up at your appliance. In less technical terms, as your cable size goes up, your resistance goes down. This is due to the inverse linear proportional relationship between the cross-section area of the cable and the resistance you encounter. You will also always encounter resistance in the wire as you conduct electricity. When electricity is conducted through a cable, you’re bound to lose energy and have a voltage drop. If you got yourself a brand new deep-cycle solar battery, chances are that it came with a set of cables. What Are the Effects of Changing the Cable Size? What Are the Effects of Changing the Cable Size?.

Wire size chart