Cable for solar installers

PILONE CABLES TECHNICAL TEAM

A solar job buys three cables, not one: single-core DC up on the roof, multi-core for the inverter's AC output, and earth cable on the array frames. All three drawn in Lahore, quoted at the day's copper rate.

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Factory: Lahore, Punjab
Supply: Single coils, part coils, mixed sizes
Delivery: Punjab 1–2 days · rest of Pakistan 2–4 days

On a typical 5 kW rooftop job: 6 mm² single-core DC for the panel strings and home run, 4 mm² for the inverter’s AC output, and 6 mm² earth to the array frame — with bigger arrays moving up the same ladder.

6 mm² carries 46 A on the BS 7671 method C reference against 36 A for 4 mm², and it drops 7.3 mV per amp per metre where 4 mm² drops 11 mV — a third less loss on what is usually the longest cable in the job, which is why rooftop DC runs settle there. The AC side is set by arithmetic: a 5 kW single-phase inverter puts out 5000 ÷ 220 = 22.7 A, and 4 mm² carries that with margin at 36 A. Earth to the array frame matches the DC conductor at 6 mm², and all three — single-core DC, multi-core AC and earth cable — are drawn in Lahore and quoted line by line at the day's copper rate.

The three cables in one solar job

Solar is the one job where the current changes character halfway through. Between the panels and the inverter it is direct, one conductor per polarity, so the cable is single-core and a string is two separate cables, not a twin. Past the inverter it is ordinary 220 V single-phase or 400 V three-phase, wanting the same multi-core cable as a house submain. Bonding is a third purchase again.

The trade's SWG codes only name half of that. 7/.036 and 7/.052 — roughly 4 mm² and 10 mm² — are the class 2 standard coils that run the AC side, and an installer can order those by code. The DC single-core has no SWG name: it is class 5 fine strand, ordered in mm² and in two colours. Send the DC lines in mm² and nothing gets substituted.

Size bands are what we draw in each family, not a recommendation for your array. Current capacity quoted anywhere on this page is copper on the BS 7671 reference method C basis (clipped direct), 30°C ambient; conductor and stranding data per IEC 60228. Verify the size for your array with a licensed electrician or your solar installer.
Where it runs	Family	Sizes we draw	Why that cable
Panel string and DC home run to the inverter	single-core DC cable	0.75 – 35 mm²	DC needs one cable per polarity, so the conductor is single-core and bought in two colours
Inverter AC output to the AC distribution board	standard or flexible multi-core	0.75 – 25 mm²	Live, neutral and earth in one sheath; sized to the inverter's rated output current, not the panel wattage
Array frames, rails and inverter chassis	earth cable	6 – 35 mm²	Bonds the metalwork so a fault has a low-resistance path back instead of a person

The AC side is where quotes go wrong, because it gets sized off the system's kW instead of the inverter's output current. Take that 22.7 A over a 15 m run to the AC board: on 4 mm² the drop is 11 × 22.7 × 15 ÷ 1000 = 3.75 V, inside the 6.6 V that 3% of 220 V allows. On 2.5 mm² the same run drops 18 × 22.7 × 15 ÷ 1000 = 6.13 V — almost the whole budget, before the submain from the meter has taken its share. To see one system worked end to end, panels to meter, read cable size for a 5kW solar system. Installers also ask which is the best DC cable for solar, and the honest answer is a size and a construction rather than a name: the size comes off the run, the construction off how hot the roof gets. The DC range page carries the ladder, the PVC and XLPE builds and the rate per size.

Every figure here is a 30°C clipped-direct reference number, and a June rooftop is neither 30°C nor clipped direct. Take the correction factors for your method and ambient from BS 7671, check the run in the voltage drop calculator, and have a licensed electrician or your solar installer confirm the final size.

What a mixed order actually weighs

Cable is priced on the metal inside it, so the number a bulk buyer wants is kilograms of conductor per hundred metres. Order 200 m of 6 mm² and 100 m of 16 mm² on one job and you buy 200 × 0.0533 = 10.7 kg on the first line and 100 × 0.1422 = 14.2 kg on the second — half the metres, more metal. That is why a mixed order is quoted line by line, never as one job price.

Conductor copper only. Insulation and sheath add weight on top, so a coil on the scale always reads heavier than this column — it is a floor, not a target. Figure = kg/km ÷ 10. Class 5 stranding and conductor resistance at 20°C per IEC 60228.
Size	Class 5 strands	Copper per 100 m	R at 20°C	Where it goes on a solar job
4 mm²	56/0.30	3.56 kg	4.95 Ω/km	Short strings, small inverter AC output
6 mm²	84/0.30	5.33 kg	3.30 Ω/km	The rooftop workhorse — strings and home runs
10 mm²	80/0.40	8.89 kg	1.91 Ω/km	Longer home runs, combiner to inverter
16 mm²	126/0.40	14.22 kg	1.21 Ω/km	Higher-output arrays, long roof-to-inverter runs
25 mm²	196/0.40	22.23 kg	0.78 Ω/km	Main DC run on commercial arrays
35 mm²	276/0.40	31.12 kg	0.554 Ω/km	The largest DC size we run

One habit follows from that: settle the unit before you compare suppliers — the cable price per meter page explains how to normalise a per-coil figure you already hold. Rates sit with the size rather than with the job, so the 4mm solar cable price in Pakistan and the 16mm solar cable price in Pakistan each live on their own size pages, per metre and per coil, moving with that day's copper.

Checking a delivery before it leaves the truck

Buy by the coil and underweight copper costs you a whole job, not one circuit. Three checks catch it on the spot, all read off the table above. Read your own metres off the quote first — we cut to the length ordered and write those metres beside the rate — then scale these figures to it. The worked case here is 100 m of 6 mm² single-core.

Weigh it. The conductor alone is 5.33 kg before any insulation, so gross weight must clear that comfortably. Anything near or under it is not carrying the copper it is sold as.
Count the strands. Strip 20 mm and count: class 5 at this size is 84 strands of 0.30 mm. A short count, or strands visibly thinner than the code, is the cheapest fraud to spot and the most common.
Meter it. At 3.30 Ω/km the coil reads about 0.33 Ω end to end at 20°C. A hot coil reads higher, so take it in the shade — the same measured test behind 100% copper wire.

Where our sheet stops is worth stating too. The conductor is plain annealed class 5, not tinned. IEC 60228 and IEC 60227 say where our resistance, stranding and construction figures come from — provenance, not a certificate; we publish no test reports or third-party marks. Temperature stops at the conductor rating, 70°C PVC and 90°C XLPE, with no service-life figure beyond it.

Cable we supply for solar installers

0.75 – 35MM² · SINGLE CORE

DC Cable

Panel strings and the home run to the inverter.

6 – 35MM²

Earth Cable

Bonding for array frames, rails and the inverter.

How ordering works

Send the order line by line

WhatsApp each size with the metres against it — DC, AC out and earth — plus your city. A system size on its own cannot be priced; metres per size can.

Get today's rate per line

Cable tracks the daily copper rate, so we quote that day's factory price for each size, per metre and per coil, with no dealer margin on top.

Collect or take delivery

Collect from the Lahore factory, or we dispatch — courier for single coils, transport for bulk. Punjab in 1–2 days, rest of Pakistan in 2–4 days.

Repeat orders run the same loop, because copper moves and last month's number is not this month's. Send the same list back and you get the current figure against it, Monday to Saturday, 9:00 to 18:00.

Questions solar installers ask

Do you supply cable for solar installers in bulk?

Yes. The cable is drawn in Lahore and sold direct, so a bulk order carries no dealer margin between the die and your van. Bulk here means mixed sizes on one order — DC, AC out and earth together, full coils or cut lengths — not a pallet minimum. Every line is quoted separately at that day's copper rate: the 6mm solar cable price in Pakistan sits on its own size page, and so does every other size we run.

Is the rate per metre or per coil?

We quote both and label which is which. Coil lengths are not standard across Pakistani makers, so a per-coil figure means nothing until you know the metres inside. Ours carry no fixed pack length: we cut to the metres you order and print that length on the quote beside the rate. Get the unit and the metres from any supplier before comparing quotes — a coil price read as per-metre is how a solar order most often goes wrong.

How do I check the copper is real and not mixed?

Weigh it, count it, meter it. 100 m of 6 mm² single-core holds 5.33 kg of conductor copper before insulation, which is the 53.3 kg per km conductor figure divided by ten. The class 5 conductor should count 84 strands of 0.30 mm. And a 100 m length should read about 0.33 ohm end to end, from 3.30 ohm/km at 20°C.

Is your solar DC cable tinned copper?

No. We draw plain annealed class 5 copper, and we say so rather than claim tinning we do not do. Tinning earns its place in humid coastal service, where bare strands corrode at the terminations. Inland, on a Lahore or Multan rooftop, plain annealed copper properly terminated is what the job runs on.

Which cable sizes should a solar installer keep on the van?

6 mm² single-core DC covers most rooftop strings and home runs, which is why 6mm solar cable moves off the van fastest. Add 4 mm² for short strings and small inverter outputs, and one earth size, usually 6 mm². Bigger arrays step the DC home run up to 16 mm² or 25 mm², and those are the coils worth ordering per job rather than stocking.

Cable for your next install

Send the sizes and the metres against each one. You get the day's factory price per line, per metre and per coil, with collection from Lahore or delivery nationwide.

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