Skip to content
Alpha Water & Power

AWP Labs · Power

Storage & solar sizer

Size battery storage for hours of autonomy and a solar array to cover a share of daily energy, for a treatment plant, pump station or remote site.

Your inputs

kW

What must keep running: pumps, blowers, controls.

kW

Including motor starting.

8hours

How long the battery carries the load with no grid and no sun.

90%
90%
60%
h/day

About 4 in the Northeast, 5.5 in Texas, 6.5 in Arizona.

%

Losses from heat, wiring, soiling and inverters.

Results

Battery storage

1,481kWh nameplate

Delivers 1,200 kWh over 8 hours at 150 kW

Solar array
491kW DC
2,160 kWh/day
Inverter rating
275kW
peak load + 25%
Generator output
275kW
peak load + 25%
Daily energy use
3,600kWh
Storage duration
9.88h
energy ÷ average load
Solar to load ratio
3.27×
Annual solar yield
788MWh

A typical day

0:006:0012:0018:0023:00
Solar output Critical load

Midday solar exceeds the load, so the surplus charges the battery for the evening and night.

How this is calculated

Battery. Nameplate kWh = Load (kW) × Hours ÷ (Depth of discharge × Round-trip efficiency).

Solar. Array kW = Daily kWh × Solar share ÷ (Peak sun hours × Derate).

Inverter. Sized at 125% of peak load so it can start motors without tripping.

Generator. The standby generator is sized the same way, at 125% of peak load. State rules generally require standby power at a wastewater plant.

Assumptions

  • The critical load is constant around the clock.
  • Battery nameplate allows for depth of discharge and round-trip losses.
  • Solar sizing uses annual average sun hours, so winter output will be lower.
  • A first pass. Microgrid design also models load profiles, weather years and generator dispatch.

A preliminary estimate for planning. AWP confirms every figure against your water, site and permit before quoting.

More tools

All Labs tools

Design. Build. Deliver. Support.

Ready to turn the estimate into a design?

Share your numbers with an AWP engineer. We will confirm the sizing and come back with a price and a schedule.

Call nowGet a quote