Calculating how much power you use is the first step in working out what size solar panel(s) / wind turbine you need. We have listed a range of equipment typically used in off-grid installations - solar charge controllers, inverters, broadband repeaters, security cameras, environmental monitoring and radio equipment, - along with a typical maximum power consumption figure in watts. 

When operating 240V appliances via an inverter, you also need to consider the efficiency of your inverter. Pure sine-wave inverters typically operate at 90% efficiency, whereas modified sine-wave inverters are normally 80% efficient. If you were operating a 1000W device, you need to increase this to 1111W for a pure sine-wave inverter (1000 divided by 0.9) and 1250W for a modified (1000 divided by 0.8).