Comparison

Solar Panel Calculator Plus vs leaDCalc

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Solar Panel Calculator Plus

Calculate custom off-grid solar home power systems. Determine the exact number of solar panels and battery capacity needed for your energy usage. Helps plan system size, inverter requirements, and battery bank specifications.

Highlights
  • Calculate solar panel requirements
  • Determine battery capacity
  • Calculate inverter size
  • Estimate daily energy usage
  • Plan days of autonomy
  • Optimize battery life calculations
Features
Read full description

Solar Panel Calculator Plus calculate custom Off-Grid Solar Home Power Systems. Use these handy calculator to help decide which system size is right for you. You can calculate the Exact Number of Solar Panels You Need For Your Usage Plus the Space you need. Also include Battery Capacity for your Home Power Systems. Daily energy use: Find the energy used in a day. Figure out how long each electronic device will be run in hours during a day. Multiply the wattage of each device by its run-time to get the energy in watt-hours per day. Add up all the watt-hour values to get a total for your home. Example: Light bulbs run for 5 hours a day. Computer runs for 2 hours a day. 100 x 5 + 300 x 2 = 1100 watt-hours. Inverter size: To determine the inverter size we must find the peak load or maximum wattage of your home. This is found by adding up the wattage of the appliances and devices that could be run at the same time. Include everything from microwaves and lights to computers and clocks. The sum will tell you which inverter size you need. Example: A room has two 60 watt light bulb and a 300 watt desktop computer. The inverter size is 60 x 2 + 300 = 420 watts. Multiply with 1.2 or 1.5 into a safe area. Days of autonomy: Now decide how many days worth of energy you want to store in your battery bank. Generally this is anywhere from two to five. Battery bank capacity: Example: You want the battery bank to last three days without recharging and that you use 5.0 kwh per day. As 5.0 x 3 x 2 = 30.0kwh, this is the energy we need from the batteries. Converting this to AH we have to divide by the voltage of your system. This can be 12, 24 or 48 for commercial application. If we choose to use 48V, the minimum AH capacity is then 30 000/48 = 625 AH. Now if you divide by your battery's rating you find the number of batteries you must use. The larger the system you have, the higher the voltage you should have. It is normal to match a 12 V battery bank to a 400 W power system. A 5 kW system would work most appropriately with a 48 V wiring system, in order to decrease current flow in the wires. Note: All calculations assume only a 50% discharge to your batteries to optimize battery life. Note: Colder temperatures have a negative effect on the capacity of your battery bank. If your battery bank is always indoors in a heated area then you don't have a problem. But if they're stored in an unheated area during the winter then you'll need to account for this. Solar Panel: The most typical solar panel size used for residential installations is 65 inches by 39 inches. And the wattage output range from 200 - 330 watts. *Thanks for your support, stay tune for more update to come

About

leaDCalc

This app calculates direct current power lead sizes for telephone company central office power plants. It uses a circular slide rule format to determine allowable voltage drops and wire sizes based on specific system parameters.

Highlights
  • Circular slide rule format
  • Calculates allowable voltage drops
  • Determines DC power lead sizes
  • Supports 48V and 24V DC systems
  • References Bell System calculations
Features
Read full description

Application based on the Western Electric Co. Inc, Bell Laboratories, Bell System DC Power Lead Calculator which is in a circular slide rule format.   Using allowable voltage drops specifically designed for telephone company central office direct current power plants and distribution wiring. The application references 48 volt battery systems but also works for other direct current voltages such as 24 volt. When using for 24 volts or other, choose by the required loop voltage drop instead of the specific section of the circuit. Notes: 51. Voltage drop and wire size calculations are based on 2.00 volt LOOP drop from the power plant battery to the load equipment and return. 1.75 Final Volts Per Cell or 40 volts min. operating volts at the equipment for nominal 48V systems.
 (40 + 2 = 42 / 24 = 1.75fvpc) 

 52. LOOP length is used in the calculations, often the battery and returns are unequal length. The result VD is shown as ONE WAY.

 53. The formula used in the lead size calculations is:
CM = LoopLength * 11.1 * Fuse or Breaker @ 100% / VD
(T-Mobile does use 80% of the input breaker or fuse size to calculate DC power wires)
CM = LoopLength * 11.1 * Fuse or Breaker @ 80% / VD
For example the Bell System might use the leaDCalc recommended 66% of the input breaker or fuse size to calculate DC power wires. The Bell System terms Peak and Busy Hour are antiquated electro-mechanical switch central office terms so leaDCalc recommends using 66% of the input fuse or breaker size, ie. 600A fuse or breaker calculate using 400 amperes and which is exactly as was done at Western Electric Co., Inc. for Bell System Telephone offices. 54. BDFB is a Battery Distributing Fuse Board. Fuse Panel is rack mounted at or near the load equipment. Load Equipment is the actual device requiring power. 

 55. This application is intended for informational use. Based on the original Bell System Lead Calculator, Western Electric Co., Inc. Model GS-5420, 4-66.

 56. "leaDCalc" is NOT affiliated with any person or company or anything else anywhere. No how, no way. 
Especially NOT T-Mobile nor the Bell System or even Western Electric Co. Inc., all of whom are mentioned. 
This application is meant as a guide only in determining the size and or capacities of power wiring used in direct current (DC), charging and storage battery telephone systems. 
This application is NOT intended to decide what type of wire, (or if you should even use wire or busbars in your DC systems), no how, no way and it is not for use with alternating current (AC) systems.

Screenshots

Solar Panel Calculator Plus4 screens
leaDCalc4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: leaDCalc at Free against Solar Panel Calculator Plus's $2.99. leaDCalc also leads on rating (5.0 vs 3.3) and update cadence (every 8 months vs every 47 months). Solar Panel Calculator Plus's advantage is ratings volume (23 vs 1) and iOS requirement (12.0 vs 16.0). On ads, in-app purchases and device support there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

leaDCalc is free to download; Solar Panel Calculator Plus costs $2.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

leaDCalc holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 3.3. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Solar Panel Calculator Plus has 23 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Solar Panel Calculator Plus ships an update every 47 months, leaDCalc every 8 months. The most recent releases landed on October 27, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
Solar Panel Calculator Plus versus leaDCalc: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSolar Panel Calculator PlusleaDCalc
Price$2.99Free — better
Rating3.3 (23 ratings)5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Positive reviews25.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings23 — better1
Update frequencyEvery 47 monthsEvery 8 months — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS12.0 — better16.0
Further details — not scored
Size8 MB159 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperNitrioVaughn Warriner

Customer experience

Solar Panel Calculator Plus

All ratings23 ratings
Positive52.2%
Neutral4.3%
Negative43.5%
Written reviews4 reviews
Positive25.0%
Neutral25.0%
Negative50.0%

leaDCalc

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

None

Solar Panel Calculator Plus

No in-app purchases

None

leaDCalc

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Solar Panel Calculator Plus free?
Solar Panel Calculator Plus costs $2.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is leaDCalc free?
leaDCalc is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Solar Panel Calculator Plus or leaDCalc?
leaDCalc is rated higher. Solar Panel Calculator Plus averages 3.3 out of 5 from 23 ratings, while leaDCalc averages 5.0 from 1 ratings.
Do Solar Panel Calculator Plus or leaDCalc have ads?
Neither Solar Panel Calculator Plus nor leaDCalc shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Solar Panel Calculator Plus or leaDCalc?
Solar Panel Calculator Plus ships an update every 47 months, and leaDCalc every 8 months. Most recently, Solar Panel Calculator Plus was updated on October 27, 2026 and leaDCalc on October 24, 2026.

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