How Power Inverter Works and How Inverter Can Solve Your Power Backup Need

Inverter is a word you hear frequently, these days. Power inverters are becoming popular with the Nigerian electricity consumers, given their long quest for an effective power backup solution. Since inverters made their entry into the scene as a viable power backup solution, more and more users have come onboard.

Long Search for Power Backup

For many, however, the working of a power inverter has not been understood. They wonder if and how an inverter can meet their power supply needs and if inverters can really prove a better solution than the power generating sets that they have come to rely on. Power generators have served their needs, but they are also very familiar with its massive running costs and the various hassles of using a generator. Running a generator, they know, is simply a case of generating one's own power, equivalent to running a mini power station. That's hardly economic, but has been endured over the years, in the face of a daunting challenge of acute power shortage. With frequent power outages, you had to generate power if your life and business must go on.

Now, the inverter is taunted as a more efficient and cost-effective power system. So, really, what's an inverter and how does an inverter work?

What Inverter is

An inverter is an electrical device designed to convert direct current (DC) into alternating current (AC). DC voltage is available in batteries, but your electrical appliances are designed to be powered by AC current, generated by power stations and alternative power systems like generating sets. An inverter comes in handy in converting DC power to AC power. An inverter is therefore a DC-to-AC converter which functions to change a DC input voltage to a symmetrical AC output voltage - to power your TVs, electric bulbs, music systems, computers, kitchen appliances, etc. In more plain language, the inverter converts 12 volts current, which a battery produces, into 220 volts current that your appliances are set to use.

The mechanics of this conversion are obviously not the worry of a user - that's the headache of the engineers designing an inverter. What you'll possibly wonder is how the DC power will come about in the first place. That takes us to another major question: how is an inverter setup configured?

Basic Car Battery Arrangement

In the most basic setup, your car battery can be connected to provide the DC voltage that the inverter converts to AC. That will generally be for a low capacity inverter, perhaps meant to run some light points or listen to your radio. The problem is that the car battery is not generally designed for deep discharge. It is a starter battery that releases a large jolt to re-start the engine of your car and then virtually go into an idle mode, being charged as the car runs. When used to run even a small inverter, you will need to start the engine at intervals and run it to recharge the inverter. Some inconvenience, right? So, go for a stand-alone setup.

Complete Inverter Setup

The more stable approach to inverter setup and indeed the approach for bigger units, is a complete setup, with its battery bank. That means that the user buys an inverter as well as its battery or set of batteries, depending on capacity. In this case, a charging system will also be required, but not to worry - most quality inverters have in-built charging system.

The inverter is configured with the battery support, such that the inverter charges the batteries when the mains supply is on and changes to its converter function, when the mains is off. When that happens, it converts the DC voltage stored in the batteries during the charging process, into AC voltage to power your home or office.

The preferred battery type is the deep cycle, deep discharge battery. The are, however, the most expensive. Dry cell sealed maintenance-free batteries that are not deep cycle are also used. These are not cheap, too. There is still the option of wet cell batteries that require checking and topping. Relatively cheaper, they can serve well, but are not ideal if not deep cycle. Whichever inverter battery type is used, it is good to buy a quality, dependable brand.

Solving Your Power Backup Need

The inverter is designed to fill the gap when you have power outages. With an inverter setup in place, you only have one challenge: the power source to charge the batteries. For areas that have some level of regular supply from the national grid, that is a settled problem. If power is available from the public supply for some hours each day, your inverter can generally cover the gap. In on-off situations, you are also comfortable, because the inverter will steady your supply. A difficulty arises only when the public supply is cut off for an extended period - say more than a whole day. If batteries run out, they need to be recharged. The inverter does not generate power on its own, meaning that in such circumstances, you will still need to run your generator to charge the batteries. That, however, will only be for a much shorter span than you would have done, if you depended completely on a generator.

The inverter is therefore not mutually exclusive to having a generator. You may need the latter at some points, except you get regular public supply for a period to charge your batteries, each day. Otherwise, both will play a complementary role ensuring you have power all the time, and that you spend much less (with less inconveniences too), than people who solely depend on power generators.

Choosing an Inverter to Buy

The first thing to realise is that there are different broad categories of inverters. Two main types to note are:

• Pure Sine Wave Inverters: These are inverters that produce current that is a smooth sine wave when viewed with an oscilloscope (a graph-displaying device that draws a graph of an electrical signal). Pure sine wave inverters produce very stable current of the quality you expect from the public supply system or even better. They are consequently best for sensitive equipment. They are usually the most expensive inverters.


• Modified Sine Wave Inverters: Modified-sine wave and square wave inverters produce power wave that appears as a choppy squared-off wave when viewed through an oscilloscope. That power quality is inferior to that from the public system, as it is less stable. Modified-sine wave power inverters will however effectively power most equipment found in homes or offices, especially when not too sensitive to power quality.

Whichever you choose to buy, ensure, too, that you determine the right capacity to take your load. Part of what a user may do, to minimise cost, is to scale down to the most basic needs, possibly keeping off freezers and air conditioners from the connection. Higher load equipment mean bigger capacity inverters and that means larger battery bank. Batteries are quite expensive and tend to shoot up the cost of inverter setup. Scaling down allows you to enjoy the benefit of an inverter, without emptying your pocket.

It's also important to go for a reliable brand that has track record of performance. If there is a manufacturer's (or dealer's) warranty to back up the product, that should strengthen your position, especially if the duration is reasonable, say up to a year. Whatever the case, inverters are very helpful and, ultimately, more-pocket-friendly. You save a lot in the longrun.

Hopefully, you now know a thing or two about inverters and can make up your mind if you need one.

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