Calculate peak envelope power from peak or peak-to-peak voltage and resistance, or convert power between watts, mW, kW, and dBm levels.

Voltage must be the sinusoidal RF voltage across a purely resistive load at the envelope crest. PEP is not instantaneous peak power or long-term average power.

Peak Envelope Power (PEP) Formula

For sinusoidal RF voltage measured across a purely resistive load at the envelope crest, the following formula calculates Peak Envelope Power (PEP). V is peak voltage, not peak-to-peak or RMS voltage. 

PEP = Vยฒ / (2 ร— R)
  • Where PEP is the Peak Envelope Power (PEP) (watts)
  • V is the peak voltage (volts) 
  • R is the resistance (ohms) 

To calculate peak envelope power, square the peak voltage, then divide by 2 times the resistance.

How to Calculate Peak Envelope Power (PEP)?

The following two example problems outline how to calculate the Peak Envelope Power (PEP).

Example Problem #1:

  1. First, determine the peak voltage (volts). In this example, the peak voltage (volts) is measured to be 300.
  2. Next, determine the resistance (ohms). For this problem, the resistance (ohms) is calculated to be 20.
  3. Finally, calculate the Peak Envelope Power (PEP) using the formula above: 

PEP = V^2 / (2 * R)

Inserting the values from above and solving the equation with the imputed values gives: 

PEP = 300^2 / 2/ 20 = 2250 (watts)

Example Problem #2: 

Using the same process as example problem 1, we first define the variables outlined by the formula. In this case, the values are:

peak voltage (volts) = 400

resistance (ohms) = 10

Entering these values into the formula or calculator above gives us 

PEP = V^2 / (2 * R) = 8000 (watts)