Essential Solar And Backup Terms

A short reference for terms that appear across the calculator.

Energy terms

Watts describe power at a moment in time. Watt-hours and kilowatt-hours describe energy over time. Amp-hours describe stored charge and need voltage context before they can be treated as energy.

Battery terms

Depth of discharge is how much of the battery you allow yourself to use. Duty cycle is the fraction of selected hours that an appliance is actually running. Surge is the temporary startup demand that can be higher than steady running load.

Solar terms

MPPT is the solar charge-control function that optimises panel input. Vmp is panel voltage at maximum power. Voc is panel open-circuit voltage.

Mobile-power terms

For many RV and boat users, grid charge hours can be read as grid / shore power charge hours. The app may use utility-style language, but the planning logic can still apply in those mobile contexts.