Inverter Sizing Calculator

Inverter Size divides DC System Size by DC:AC Ratio, so a larger array or a lower target ratio both call for a bigger inverter, while a higher ratio deliberately undersizes the inverter relative to the array -- the standard oversizing practice that keeps costs down since panels rarely produce their full rated output simultaneously. Peak Clipping Loss measures how much of the array's potential AC-equivalent output would exceed what the undersized inverter can pass through at the single worst-case, full-sun instant -- a magnitude, not a frequency -- and the math works out so that this percentage depends only on DC:AC Ratio and Inverter Efficiency -- not on DC System Size itself, since a bigger array needs a proportionally bigger inverter at the same ratio, and the clipping percentage cancels the scale out. A higher DC:AC Ratio always raises Peak Clipping Loss, because more DC capacity is being squeezed through the same relative inverter size; a higher Inverter Efficiency also raises it slightly, since more of the array's DC power actually converts to AC and has to pass through the inverter's fixed AC ceiling.

Max AC Output, by contrast, is the inverter's real deliverable ceiling: it applies both Inverter Efficiency and Temperature Derating directly to Inverter Size, so a hotter climate (higher derating) or a less efficient inverter both lower the usable AC power even though neither one touches the clipping percentage. Est. Annual Clipping is a rough 30% multiplier applied to the peak figure as a stand-in for how often true clipping conditions (full sun, favorable temperature) actually occur over a year -- it is a planning approximation, not a site-specific irradiance simulation.