What is watt?
The watt is the SI base unit of power. It is universally used to measure the rate of energy consumption or production in electrical appliances, engines, lighting, and virtually all power-related specifications.
Real-world uses
The watt is the SI unit of power, used to rate electrical appliances (a kettle is about 2,000 W, an LED bulb 8–12 W), solar panels, audio amplifiers, and motors. Electricity generation at power stations and renewable installations is measured in watts and its multiples.
History
Named after Scottish engineer James Watt (1736–1819), the unit was adopted by the Second Congress of the British Association for the Advancement of Science in 1882. Watt's improvements to the steam engine were foundational to the Industrial Revolution.
Common mistakes
Confusing watts (power) with watt-hours (energy). A 100 W light bulb uses 100 watt-hours of energy per hour. Also, equating wattage with brightness for LED bulbs—lumens measure brightness, watts measure power consumption.
What is megawatt?
A megawatt is a unit of power equal to one million watts. It is used to rate the output of power plants, large industrial facilities, and grid-scale renewable energy installations.
Real-world uses
Megawatts describe the output of power plants, wind turbines (typically 2–15 MW each), and large solar farms. A modern natural gas peaker plant might produce 50–500 MW. Data centres may have power demands of tens to hundreds of MW. Grid operators manage supply and demand in MW.
History
As electrical grids grew through the 20th century, the megawatt became the standard unit for power station output and grid management. It enables comparisons across coal, gas, nuclear, and renewable generation sources on a common scale.
Common mistakes
Confusing MW (power) with MWh (energy). A 100 MW power plant running for 10 hours generates 1,000 MWh (1 GWh) of energy. Also, not distinguishing between MW of capacity (nameplate) and MW of actual output (which varies for renewables).
When is this conversion used?
Converting watt to megawatt is useful in the power domain when comparing values across different measurement standards or applying formulas that require a specific unit.
Worked examples
1 watt = 0.000001 megawatt
1 megawatt = 1,000,000 watt
How to convert watt to megawatt
To convert watt to megawatt, multiply the value by 0.000001.
To convert megawatt back to watt, multiply by 1,000,000.
Measurement standards
The watt is the SI derived unit of power, defined as one joule per second (kg·m²/s³). Horsepower remains in widespread informal use, particularly in the automotive industry, but has no single universal definition across regions.
Did you know?
The human body at rest produces about 80 watts of power — roughly enough to keep an incandescent light bulb glowing. During intense exercise, a trained cyclist can sustain over 400 watts, and elite sprinters briefly exceed 2,000 watts.
Quick reference: watt to megawatt
| watt | megawatt |
|---|---|
| 0.1 | 1.000000e-07 |
| 0.5 | 5.000000e-07 |
| 1 | 0.000001 |
| 2 | 0.000002 |
| 5 | 0.000005 |
| 10 | 0.00001 |
| 25 | 0.000025 |
| 50 | 0.00005 |
| 100 | 0.0001 |
| 250 | 0.00025 |
| 500 | 0.0005 |
| 1,000 | 0.001 |
Common values
| watt | megawatt | |
|---|---|---|
| LED light bulb | 10 watt | 0.00001 megawatt |
| Desktop computer | 300 watt | 0.0003 megawatt |
| Microwave oven | 1,000 watt | 0.001 megawatt |
| Small car engine | 75,000 watt | 0.075 megawatt |
| Wind turbine (large) | 3,000,000 watt | 3 megawatt |
Available Power units
More watt conversions
- Convert watt to kilowatt
- Convert watt to horsepower (mechanical)
- Convert watt to megawatt
- Convert watt to gigawatt
- Convert watt to milliwatt
- Convert watt to microwatt
- Convert watt to BTU per hour
- Convert watt to kilocalorie per hour
- Convert watt to ton of refrigeration
Assumption: horsepower values use mechanical horsepower.