Convert Kilowatts to Petawatts
Convert Kilowatts (kW) to Petawatts (PW) instantly and accurately.
Conversion Formula
PW = kW × 1.000000000e-12
About Kilowatts
A kilowatt (kW) is 1,000 W - the everyday unit for home, vehicle, and industrial power. Average US home consumption is ~1.2 kW continuous (~10,500 kWh/year). EV motors range from 30 kW (city cars) to 600+ kW (performance models); a Tesla Model S Performance produces 560 kW (751 hp). Industrial gas turbines on commercial aircraft generate 20,000-100,000 kW. Solar installations are sized in kW-peak. Industrial electric motors span from fractional kW to thousands of kW. 1 kW = 1,000 W = 1.341 hp = 3,412.1 BTU/h.
About Petawatts
A petawatt (PW) is 10¹⁵ W. Total solar power intercepted by Earth is ~174 PW. The world's most powerful laser pulses operate at petawatt peak power via chirped pulse amplification (CPA, 2018 Nobel Prize in Physics): China's SULF demonstrated 10 PW in 2019; ELI-NP targets 10 PW. These PW pulses last femtoseconds and create plasma temperatures of billions of kelvin in laboratory targets. Gamma-ray bursts radiate 10²⁴-10²⁷ W at peak - thousands to billions of times the petawatt scale. 1 PW = 10¹⁵ W.
Quick Reference Table
| Kilowatts (kW) | Petawatts (PW) |
|---|---|
| 1 kW | 1 × 10-12 PW |
| 2 kW | 2 × 10-12 PW |
| 5 kW | 5 × 10-12 PW |
| 10 kW | 1 × 10-11 PW |
| 25 kW | 2.5 × 10-11 PW |
| 50 kW | 5 × 10-11 PW |
| 100 kW | 1 × 10-10 PW |