Our voltage drop calculator estimates the power loss and voltage drop along cables carrying direct current (DC) power. This is a great tool to obtain an estimation of how much power you need to provide to ensure remote DC loads have sufficient voltage.
In AC (alternating current) power systems and, to a much lesser extent, in DC power systems, it's necessary to generate more power than will be consumed by devices. This is because a certain amount of power will be lost along cables due to various types of line losses, such as resistance. If you'd like to learn more about the types of line losses, you can read about them on our blog: The 3 Types of Line Losses Along Transmission Lines.
Here's how this calculator works. A number of factors influence how much power loss and voltage drop occur along cables, including:
Cable gauge size (AWG and/or mm²), cable length, type of power (AC or DC), as well as voltage and current at the power source.
