Power-Inverters-The Facts you need to know.

The Inverter takes the power from the batteries and then turns it into your household AC current, normally 120volts AC or 240 AC and this is what your house needs to run all your everyday appliances. So for this type of setup you need to make sure your Inverter has the right voltage for your setup, either 12volts 24/36/48. This is your input voltage from your batteries. Then make sure you have the correct output voltage, either 120 volts or 240. The next important bit is the power output that you need.

To do a whole average house you will need between 4000watt and 5000watt continuous power not peak. If you just want to run the lights and you are using low energy bulbs, and maybe a TV and stereo and PC then you may be OK with something around a 1000 watt. These figures are just a guide though. Speak with your local electrician and tell him what you want and he will give you a better idea as to the size you will need.

There is one more thing you need to be very careful about and that is do you want clean or dirty electricity? What i mean here is that there are 2 types of electricity that Inverters can produce. Pure sine wave Inverters, Modified sine wave Inverters. The difference is that Pure Sine Wave matches the power to that of which you get from your Electricity Supplier, its clean and you can run any appliance's safely even sensitive equipment. Modified sine wave is dirty power, you can use this to power a lot of things that don't have sensitive electronics.Kettles for example fridges, cookers,pumps,fryers,hot plates. You CANNOT run LED lighting on these Inverters as they over heat and die within a couple of hours. You have to be careful with some TVs and PCs as they don't like it either, but i have heard that a lot of people use them for this with no problems, but I like to be safe rather than sorry.

Ask anything you like,its free and just an e.mail away.
E.Mail stephensteve1717@aol.com anytime

This bit here will explain just a basic setup .
So your Batteries are charged and you want to connect your Inverter ,so lets make sure the Inverter has the correct input voltage ,for a car or truck 12volts or 24volts..for a wind turbine you will be probably using batteries in series so your output voltage will be in steps of either 12volt 24/36/48volts.OK so it has the right voltage look now at the back of the Inverter it should have 2 large screw on lugs or terminals one black /negative and one red /positive..so the positive goes to positive {REALY IMPORTANT} on the battery and negative to negative ..Before you start make sure the unit is switched off..Sometimes when you connect these terminals it can make a spark ,don't worry its sometimes normal.It Would also be a good idea to put a large cut of switch between the battery and the Inverter ,these are available at most car truck stores.then on the front you have your sockets ..make sure the output voltage is set to the country or the appliance you are using ,this should be 120volts ac or 240ac .depending on where you live ..and plug it in to the sockets on the front of the unit ..make sure the appliance is switched off ..power up the Inverter , {always do this first } then switch on your appliance..that's it ..

So you have your wind or solar panels installed, now all you need is to get the power into your home and start using it.
Power Inverters work like this.
Type 1.
The first type of Inverter I am talking about is a stand alone Inverter. This type of Inverter is used for what is known as OFF grid, Its not connected to your mains power. These Inverters can be used when camping, you just attach them to your car/truck battery. The power from your wind turbines/ solar panels goes through a voltage regulator, and the voltage regulator sends the power to your batteries.You have to have a voltage regulator as the Wind Turbine often generates its power with 3 phase DC. So it converts the power to whatever your system is running normally either 12volt 24/36/48, for the average residential setup.

Pure sine wave Inverters are more expensive than modified Inverters. These Inverters are safe to use with any electrical equipment, because they make electricity that is the same as you get from your supplier or the grid. If it is sensitive it should run fine. Just follow the steps above when buying one of these Inverters.

Grid Tie Inverters are great for those that want to keep things simple. You don't need a set of Batteries for these Inverters. Although these are the most expensive they still work out well as you don't have to fork out for those expensive batteries. one thing though you need to remember is that if you have a grid tie system when the power goes off that's it , no power. On some of the newer models you just attach the power from your Solar panels /Wind turbine, and then plug it into a normal mains socket somewhere in your house, simple. However these Grid Tie Inverters are not allowed in some places so you will need to check with the relevant authorities in the area you live. This is because when you run them they match the supply exactly to the electricity that you are receiving,so when your system is producing power it makes your electric meter run backwards or slows it down. This is called Backward metering. Personally i think this system is the way to go as anyone can install it ,its that simple. As the inverter gets bigger though you may find that you will have to get a qualified electrician to install it. So if you are at work all day and you turn off all your appliances the meter would go backwards reducing your electric bill.

Can you mix power Inverters?

Well yes you can ..As long as they are being fed the same voltage ..IE both are 12volt or both take in 24volt ..etc..So suppose you want a pure sine wave and a normal modified cheaper Inverter. I mix mine because I need to run some sensitive equipment PCs example and the rest is not important ..So what do i do ..I look at how much power the PC uses 70watt.and then i have a TV flat screen plasma 100watt and some LED lighting 40watt.So I add them up total 210 watt then i add a little in case i have other things in the future,so I reckon on 500watt pure sine will be fine ..500watt continuous 1000watt peak . Everything else can run on dirty modified sine wave ,these are a lot cheaper so for my house i am going to get 5000 watt continuous 10.000peak
You must also ensure that each inverter has a direct supply from the battery or the power source you are using, Normally batteries.and its own cut off switch. Don't link them like this .from battery to Inverter one then from inverter one to inverter two .But like this ,cables direct from battery to Inverter one ,done, and cable from battery to Inverter two done .