As more people install photovoltaic systems, we will read more about renewable energy. This article’s purpose is to make it easy for readers to understand the difference between a kWh and a kW. Electricity can be confusing and writers themselves often confuse kW and kWh in articles.
- A kilowatt is a rate of energy usage analogous to Miles Per Hour for vehicle
- A kilowatt-hour is a unit of energy analogous to Miles Driven in a vehicle
A kilowatt of electricity is the rate at which energy is being produced and can be converted into Btu’s per hour. It is analogous to the speed that which one might drive a car in miles per hour. It is a rate or something per change in time.
A kilowatt-hour is the energy used or produced by something and can be converted in Btu’s. It is analogous to distance that one may have driven on a car’s odometer. Your electric meter is the odometer although commercial electric meters keep track of the maximum rate, kW, that occurred during a billing month.
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