How to identify cable sizes for your solar installation

Cables are an integral part of solar system installation, they are so crucial for transmitting current from the source to the end user, cables are also used to connect two or more devices, enabling the transfer of electrical signals or power from one device to the other.

Cables are used for a wide range of purposes, and each must be tailored for that purpose, When two or more wires are twisted or bonded together and covered with a sheath, it is known as a cable wire. It is used for various purposes in different fields all over the world.

There are different types of cables used for various purposes. There are various types of cables, it is basically divided into four types which include the Multi conductor, fibre optics, twisted pair and the coaxial cables.

Choosing the right cable sizes in your solar system installation is both important for safety and performance reasons, what that means is that your system is less likely to go into flames due to undersized cable on the other hand you won’t experience a voltage drop in your system because the cables are acting as resistance to the flow of current. An electrical cable carries current much like a water hose carries water.

The larger the water hose, the less resistance there is to water flow. Moreover, even with a large diameter hose, shorter hoses have better flow than longer hoses. Longer hoses have more resistance than shorter ones of the same diameter. Electrical cables behave the same manner. If your electrical wires (the copper gauge) are not large enough or if the cable is longer than needed, then the resistance is higher resulting in less watts going to either your battery bank or the grid. Having a hard time choosing a cable size?

You can call on trusted Wavetra Engineers to make that decision or check on this chart to help you with making the right decision