How do I calculate the carbon footprint of a home inverter or UPS?

Add the bought-in parts per unit: transformer copper and steel, circuit board, metal or plastic cabinet and cables, each with a supplier figure. Add assembly, burn-in testing electricity and packing, then divide by units built. Count the battery separately.

Bought-in parts

• Transformer with copper winding and lamination steel.
• Assembled circuit board and heat sinks.
• Cabinet, cables and display.

Assembly

• Winding and varnishing if made in-house.
• Assembly line and soldering.
• Burn-in and load testing, which can draw real power.

Per unit

Report per inverter by VA rating, and state whether the battery is included. A battery usually weighs several times more than the inverter.

Worked example: home inverter and UPS unit per unit (one month)

• Electricity: 25,000 kWh x 0.710 = 17,750 kg CO2
• Inverters built: 5,000
• Plant total: 17,750 / 5,000 = 3.550 kg CO2 per unit
• Add transformer, board and cabinet for the full figure

Inputs are illustrative; use your own bills and production records.

What Senseible does here

Senseible reads the plant's electricity bills (CEA grid factor 0.710 kg CO2 per kWh, CO2 Baseline Database version 21.0) and fuel invoices (IPCC 2006 defaults) into a fingerprinted Scope 1 and 2 record, the plant-level input to a per-unit figure. Bought-in materials go to the supplier evidence trail; product reports are self-declared drafts.

• Product carbon footprint calculator
• PCB assembly footprint
• Lead acid battery footprint
• Distribution transformer footprint
• Automobile industry

Sources: GHG Protocol Product Standard, ISO 14067:2018, Carbon footprint of products (iso.org), IPCC 2006 Guidelines, Volume 2 Energy (fuel defaults), CEA CO2 Baseline Database, version 21.0

Last reviewed 2026-10-20.