Re: RC: Generator vs Inverter

[Truman Prevatt <tprevatt@mindspring.com>]

An inverter is a device that transforms DC - what comes out of your car
battery - to AC (what your house runs on). In a generator some fuel, e.g.
LP or gasoline to AC through the use of a engine and coils, etc.

The real issues is how much energy can you get. It's difficult to get
more than say 300 watts out of an inverter unless you have a very large
pool of batteries. 300 watts will give you about 3 amps ( a little less )
of AC. That's not enough to power many household appliances. It's for
small fans, a laptop computer, etc. But it won't work on a microwave for
example.

On the other hand it's easy to find a 4 kilowatt generator. That will
supply all the power required for a RV including microwave and AC.

I don't have a generator and but do have a solar panel on the roof of my
trailer. This is fine for the lights, furnace fan when it is cold and I
have a portable inverter which has a connector that fits into the DC
television outlet in the trailer (which is nothing more than a cigarette
lighter connector). But the two batteries I have are the interface. The
solar cell charges the batteries and the batteries supply the current. I
have an inverter I use to keep my laptop charged, my electric razor
charger and I've even powered a small set of speakers of it while
watching a DVD off my laptop.

So an inverter is good for the small things but unless you have massive
storage for DC ( batteries ) or unless you have a massive solar array and
it is daylight, it will not suffice for the big things.

On the other hand they make no noise. I've never heard anyone complain
about photons bouncing off solar cells.

Truman

"Linda B. Merims" wrote:

> What's the difference between a generator and an inverter?
>
> I mean, besides the cost and the difference in noise.
>
> Linda B. Merims
> lbm@naisp.net
> Massachusetts, USA