Enter real power in kilowatts and a power factor to calculate the apparent power in kilovolt-amps.
How to Use the Kilowatts to Kilovolt-Amps Calculator
Enter real power in kilowatts and a power factor between 0 and 1, then read the apparent power straight off the highlighted card — there's no phase selector, because the ratio between kW and kVA never depends on how many conductors are carrying it.
A generator spec sheet or a UPS quote almost always leads with a kVA number, while the load you're actually trying to cover — a server rack, a workshop's motors, a home's backup circuit — gets measured in kW. Sizing the one from the other means dividing back out the power factor that made kW smaller than kVA in the first place.
kVA = kW ÷ PFA 7.5 kW load at a 0.85 power factor needs 8.82 kVA of generator or UPS capacity — not 7.5. Skip that step and the equipment gets undersized by roughly the same margin the power factor cut into it, which shows up as a generator that trips or a UPS that shuts down under a load that should be well within its nameplate rating.
PF = 1.0 is the only case where the two numbers coincide, and it describes a purely resistive load — a heater, an incandescent bank — with nothing reactive drawing current without doing work. Most electronics and anything with a motor or transformer sit below that, commonly 0.8–0.95, which is exactly why the padding this formula adds matters in practice rather than being a rounding nicety.
Already have volts and amps instead of a kW figure? The Amps to kVA calculator starts from current and voltage directly rather than a power reading.