calc.engineer / Solar & Power / Wire Gauge

Wire Gauge v1.0.0

Determines the minimum AWG (American Wire Gauge) conductor size for a given current, voltage, one-way cable distance, and maximum allowable voltage drop percentage. Supports copper and aluminum conductors. Computes round-trip resistance, actual voltage drop in volts and percent, and wire cross-sectional area. Essential for DC solar runs, battery bank wiring, EV charging circuits, and low-voltage landscape lighting. NEC recommends 3% max drop for branch circuits and 5% total including feeder. Outputs the smallest AWG that satisfies the drop constraint.

← from solar_sizing← from ups_runtimefeeds solar_sizing →
Load current in amperes (A)
System voltage (V)
One-way conductor distance in meters
Maximum allowable voltage drop as percentage (default 3%)
Conductor material: copper or aluminum
Fill in the inputs and Compute to see the structured result.

From an agent (MCP) or the API

curl -X POST https://calc.engineer/api/wire_gauge \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"current_amps": …, "voltage": …, "distance_m": …}'

MCP: connect to https://calc.engineer/mcp and call wire_gauge.

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