The only trouble is, though many of our appliancesare designed to work with AC, small-scale power generators often produce DC. Thatmeans if you want to run something like an AC-powered gadget from aDC car battery in a mobile home, you need a device that will convertDC to AC—an inverter, as it' Contact online >>
The only trouble is, though many of our appliancesare designed to work with AC, small-scale power generators often produce DC. Thatmeans if you want to run something like an AC-powered gadget from aDC car battery in a mobile home, you need a device that will convertDC to AC—an inverter, as it''s called. Let''s take a closerlook at these gadgets and find out how they work!
Photo: A detail of the electronic circuit inside a power inverter developed at NREL. Photo by Werner Slocum courtesy ofUS Department of Energy/NREL (DoE/NREL) (photo id #148966).
When science teachers explain the basic idea of electricity to usas a flow of electrons, they''re usually talking about directcurrent (DC). We learn that the electrons work a bit like a lineof ants, marching along with packets of electrical energy in the sameway that ants carry leaves. That''s a good enough analogy forsomething like a basic flashlight, where we have a circuit (anunbroken electrical loop) linking a battery, a lamp, and a switch andelectrical energy is systematically transported from the battery tothe lamp until all the battery''s energy is depleted.
The answer is actually quite simple. Imagine the cablesrunning between the lamp and the wall packed full of electrons. Whenyou flick on the switch, all the electrons filling the cablevibrate back and forth in the lamp''s filament—and that rapidshuffling about converts electrical energy into heat and makes thelamp bulb glow. The electrons don''t necessarily have to run in circle to transport energy:in AC, they simply "run on the spot."
Animation: What''s the difference between DC and AC electricity? Suppose you have to vacuum a room. Directcurrent is a bit like working from one side to the other in a straight line; alternating current is like going back and forth onthe spot. Both get the job done, albeit in slightly different ways!
One of Tesla''s legacies (and that of his business partner GeorgeWestinghouse, boss of the Westinghouse Electrical Company) is thatmost of the appliances we have in our homes are specifically designedto run from AC power. Appliances that need DC but have to take powerfrom AC outlets need an extra piece of equipment called a rectifier,typically built from electronic components calleddiodes, to convert from AC to DC.
Photo: A typical electricity inverter. This one is made by Xantrex/Trace Engineering. Photo by Warren Gretz courtesy of US Department of Energy/NREL (DoE/NREL).
Of course the kind of inverters you buy in electrical stores don''t work quitethis way, though some are indeed mechanical: they use electromagneticswitches that flick on and off at high speed to reverse the currentdirection. Inverters like this often produce what''s known as asquare-wave output: the current is either flowing one way or theopposite way or it''s instantly swapping over between the two states:
These kind of sudden power reversals are quite brutal for some forms of electrical equipment normal AC power, the current gradually swaps from one direction to the other in a sine-wave pattern, like this:
Electronic inverters can be used to produce this kind of smoothly varying AC output from aDC input. They use electronic components called inductors andcapacitors to make the output current rise and fall more graduallythan the abrupt, on/off-switching square wave output you get with abasic inverter.
Photo: A selection of electricity inverters that can be used with renewable energy generating equipment, such as solar cells and micro-wind turbines. Photo by Warren Gretz courtesy ofUS Department of Energy/NREL (DoE/NREL).
If you''re familiar with the workings of a basic DC electric motor, you''ll notice that mechanical inverters like this also have much in common with commutators. Those are the segmented switching devices that allow a simple DC electric motor to keep on spinning in the same direction by periodically reversing its electric current.
Although a very simple mechanical inverter like this would produce a crude square-wave output, it''s also possible to produce smoother, more sine-wave-like output in this way as well. In the inverter design below, an ingenious cam-like machine (on the left) uses multiple sets of contacts to progressively add and subtract the outputs from three separate DC batteries, so producing seven different rising and falling voltage levels and a much smoother, almost sine-wave-like output.
Artwork: This mechanical inverter uses a series of rotating cams (red, left) that alternately engage a series of electrical contacts (blue) to add or subtract the voltages from three DC batteries (green), so producing an almost sine-wave-like output at the load (gray, right). Artworkfrom US Patent US8437159B2: Cam-controlled electromechanical rotary power inverter by Osama Abdulrahman Al-Naseem,University of Kuwait, May 7, 2013.
Caption: Nikola Tesla. Although he won the war of the currents, his rival Thomas Edison is still remembered as the pioneer of electric power. Wood engraving of Tesla by Sarong, c.1906, courtesy of US Library of Congress.
This explains why inverters come in two distinct flavors:true/pure sine wave inverters (often shortened to PSW) andmodified/quasi sine wave inverters (shortened to MSW). Astheir name suggests, true inverters use what are called toroidal(donut-shaped) transformers and electronic circuits to transformdirect current into a smoothly varying alternating current verysimilar to the kind of genuine sine wave normally supplied to ourhomes. They can be used to power any kind of AC appliance from a DCsource, including TVs,computers, video games,radios, and stereos.
Artwork: A modified sine wave (MSW, green) more closely resembles a sine wave (blue) than a square wave (orange), but it still involves sudden, drastic changes in current. The more steps in a modified sine wave, the nearer it approaches theidealized form of a true sine wave.
Photo: Microinverters are small, compact inverters typically used for converting the DC output of a single photovolatic solar panel into AC that can be fed straight into the power grid. In other words, each panel has its own microinverter.This photo shows six Enphase IQ 6 microinverters under test at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL).They''re Internet-connected, which means you can monitor their performance through your web browser and track how it changes over time. Photo by Dennis Schroeder courtesy of NREL.
About Power inverter explained
As the photovoltaic (PV) industry continues to evolve, advancements in Power inverter explained have become critical to optimizing the utilization of renewable energy sources. From innovative battery technologies to intelligent energy management systems, these solutions are transforming the way we store and distribute solar-generated electricity.
When you're looking for the latest and most efficient Power inverter explained for your PV project, our website offers a comprehensive selection of cutting-edge products designed to meet your specific requirements. Whether you're a renewable energy developer, utility company, or commercial enterprise looking to reduce your carbon footprint, we have the solutions to help you harness the full potential of solar energy.
By interacting with our online customer service, you'll gain a deep understanding of the various Power inverter explained featured in our extensive catalog, such as high-efficiency storage batteries and intelligent energy management systems, and how they work together to provide a stable and reliable power supply for your PV projects.
