What Is A Kilo-Watt Hour (KWh)?

A KWh is one thousands watts for one hour.

Or the equivalent; for instance 2000 watts for 1/2 an hour or 500 watts for 2 hours.

Watts are units of power. Many different fields of engineering use watts but watts are most often used in an electrical context.

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Why Use KWh?

A KWh measures electrical power over time. A KWh measures the quality of the solar panels; how hard the solar panels work over time.

Photo Voltaic (PV) solar panels produce electricity; electricity is described by current and voltage. The unit of measurement ‘Watt’ combines voltage and current:

watts = current x voltage

If a PV solar panel produces 5 amps of current at 250 volts:

watts = current x voltage
watts = 5 x 250 = 1250 watts
Divide by 1000 to get KW = 1250/1000 = 1.25 KW.

Breakdown Of The Term KWh

Kilo Watt Hour (KWh)

Kilo = 1 thousand.

Hour = a unit of time.

1 KWh = 1 thousand watts for one hour.

A KWh is a measure over time similar to 50 miles per hour, £10 per hour or £225 per week.

Watt Hour

Different Measures Over Time

Term Number Unit Time Period
1KWh 1000 Watt Hour
50 Miles per hour 50 Miles Hour
£10 per hour 10 £’s Hour
£225 per week 225 £’s Week
10 KWh 10 x 1000 = 10,000 Watt Hour