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The Renewable Energy Website

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AWG to Square mm Wire Size Converter
article from the Renewable Energy
Website REUK.co.uk.
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Printed at 06:35am 22nd June 2009

AWG to Square mm
Wire Size Converter
Convert between AWG,
inches and mm diameter, and
square mm area measures of
wire size
Wire (cable) is a vital component of any
renewable energy system. It is also
one of the most expensive components particularly in low voltage DC systems
with long runs of wire between the
generator and battery bank (1). At the
bottom of this article is a table showing
the relationship between the four main
different measures of wire size:
1) AWG (American Wire gauge)
2) Diameter in Inches
3) Diameter in mm
4) Cross Sectional Area in square
mm

Simple AWG to MM Diameter


Conversion

Below is a calculator which will


calculate the mm diameter, inch
diameter, and mm2 cross sectional area
automatically for any given value of
AWG (except 00, 000, and 0000).
Simply type in the AWG size of the wire
you want to convert and click Calculate .
AWG
18

Wire Diameter:
mm
inches, Cross Sectional Area:
2
mm
The above calculator uses the following
equations to convert AWG to mm
diameter when the AWG of a length of
wire is known:
diameter [mm] = 0.127 * 92 ^ ((36AWG)/39)
By turning the equation around, it is
possible to calculate the AWG of a length
of wire for which the mm diameter is
known:
AWG = -(ln (diameter [mm]/0.127) / (ln
(92) * 39) - 36)
nb. to convert mm to inches simply
multiply by 0.03936 . To convert inches
to mm divide by 0.03936.

Calculating Line-Losses
If you would like to calculate the correct
size of wire for your renewable energy
system or otherwise visit our page on
Minimising Line-Losses in RE Systems
(2). There you should find all of the
equations and information you need
about selecting wire to match the voltage,
current, and length of wire required in
your system.

Wire Size Conversion Table

Americ
Cross
an Wire Diamet Diamet Section
Gauge er
er
al
Area
(AWG)
(inches) (mm)
(mm2)
0
0.46
11.68
107.16
0
0.4096
10.4
84.97
0
0.3648
9.27
67.4
0
0.3249
8.25
53.46
1
0.2893
7.35
42.39
2
0.2576
6.54
33.61
3
0.2294
5.83
26.65
4
0.2043
5.19
21.14
5
0.1819
4.62
16.76
6
0.162
4.11
13.29
7
0.1443
3.67
10.55
8
0.1285
3.26
8.36
9
0.1144
2.91
6.63
10
0.1019
2.59
5.26
11
0.0907
2.3
4.17
12 0.0808
2.05
3.31
13
0.072
1.83
2.63
14
0.0641
1.63
2.08
15
0.0571
1.45
1.65
16 0.0508
1.29
1.31
17
0.0453
1.15
1.04
18 0.0403
1.02
0.82
19
0.0359
0.91
0.65
20
0.032
0.81
0.52
21
0.0285
0.72
0.41
22
0.0254
0.65
0.33
23
0.0226
0.57
0.26
24
0.0201
0.51
0.2
25
0.0179
0.45
0.16
26
0.0159
0.4
0.13

AWG Chart
[mm]

[mm]

for Solid
Rod

for Solid
Rod

for Solid
Rod

[Ohm/m]
Copper
(20 C,68
F)

0.46
0.41
0.365

11.7
10.4
9.26

107
85
67.4

0.000161
0.000203
0.000256

AWG
Number
4/0 = 0000
3/0 = 000
2/0 = 00

Resistanc
e

[Inch]

1/0 = 0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40

0.325
0.289
0.258
0.229
0.204
0.182
0.162
0.144
0.128
0.114
0.102
0.0907
0.0808
0.072
0.0641
0.0571
0.0508
0.0453
0.0403
0.0359
0.032
0.0285
0.0253
0.0226
0.0201
0.0179
0.0159
0.0142
0.0126
0.0113
0.01
0.00893
0.00795
0.00708
0.00631
0.00562
0.005
0.00445
0.00397
0.00353
0.00314

8.25
7.35
6.54
5.83
5.19
4.62
4.11
3.66
3.26
2.91
2.59
2.3
2.05
1.83
1.63
1.45
1.29
1.15
1.02
0.912
0.812
0.723
0.644
0.573
0.511
0.455
0.405
0.361
0.321
0.286
0.255
0.227
0.202
0.18
0.16
0.143
0.127
0.113
0.101
0.0897
0.0799

53.5
42.4
33.6
26.7
21.1
16.8
13.3
10.5
8.36
6.63
5.26
4.17
3.31
2.62
2.08
1.65
1.31
1.04
0.823
0.653
0.518
0.41
0.326
0.258
0.205
0.162
0.129
0.102
0.081
0.0642
0.0509
0.0404
0.032
0.0254
0.0201
0.016
0.0127
0.01
0.00797
0.00632
0.00501

0.000323
0.000407
0.000513
0.000647
0.000815
0.00103
0.0013
0.00163
0.00206
0.0026
0.00328
0.00413
0.00521
0.00657
0.00829
0.0104
0.0132
0.0166
0.021
0.0264
0.0333
0.042
0.053
0.0668
0.0842
0.106
0.134
0.169
0.213
0.268
0.339
0.427
0.538
0.679
0.856
1.08
1.36
1.72
2.16
2.73
3.44

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