Solar & battery
Solar Inverter Load Calculator
Add up continuous and surge loads to check an inverter can actually run them.
Result
Only one motor is assumed to start at a time, which is the normal design case. Adding every surge together sizes an inverter far larger than reality needs. Surge ratings are also time-limited, typically a few seconds, so a load that surges repeatedly needs a soft starter rather than a bigger inverter.
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About this calculator
Why do motors surge so much?
A stationary motor has almost no back-EMF, so it draws locked-rotor current until it spins up. Three to seven times the running current is normal for a second or two.
What is a soft starter?
A device that ramps a motor up rather than switching it on hard. On air conditioners it can cut starting current enough to let a much smaller inverter or generator run them.
The formula
worst case = continuous load + the largest single starting surge
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