Difference between revisions of "Conductor size"

Revision as of 15:00, 30 November 2020

A comparison of standard mm² wire sizes and standard AWG wire sizes. AWG decreases as wire size increases, mm² increases as wire size increases.

Wires come in standard sizes depending upon the location. The proper wire size for a particular circuit depends on two important considerations:

The amount of current that they can safely carry given the conditions in which they will be used.
The amount of voltage that will be lost under operation, which is called voltage drop

The wires for an off-grid system must will be sized and selected based upon the load evaluation and the physical evaluation for a particular site. This process must be done in conjunction with the sizing and selection of the overcurrent protection device - see Wire and overcurrent protection sizing and selection for more information.

The two most common standards for wire size are American Wire Gauge (AWG) and mm². These two systems are not directly equivalent.

@@ Line 3: / Line 3: @@
 Wires come in standard sizes depending upon the location. The proper wire size for a particular circuit depends on two important considerations:
 #The amount of current that they can safely carry given the conditions in which they will be used.
-#The amount of voltage that will be lost under operation, which is called [[voltage drop|voltage drop]]
+#The amount of voltage that will be lost under operation, which is called [[Voltage drop|voltage drop]]
 The wires for an off-grid system must will be sized and selected based upon the [[Load evaluation|load evaluation]] and the [[Physical evaluation|physical evaluation]] for a particular site. This process must be done in conjunction with the sizing and selection of the [[:Category:Overcurrent protection and disconnects|overcurrent protection device]] - see [[:Category:Wire and overcurrent protection sizing and selection|Wire and overcurrent protection sizing and selection]] for more information.