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Solar Power – The Converters

Solar Power – The Converters

The regulator provides DC power at a specific voltage. Converters and inverters

are used to adjust the voltage to match the requirements of your load.

 

DC/DC Converters

 

DC/DC converters transform a continuous voltage to another continuous

voltage of a different value. There are two conversion methods which can be

used to adapt the voltage from the batteries: linear conversion and switching

conversion.

 

Linear conversion lowers the voltage from the batteries by converting excess

energy to heat. This method is very simple but is obviously inefficient.

Switching conversion generally uses a magnetic component to temporarily

store the energy and transform it to another voltage. The resulting voltage

can be greater, less than, or the inverse (negative) of the input voltage.

The efficiency of a linear regulator decreases as the difference between the

input voltage and the output voltage increases. For example, if we want to

convert from 12 V to 6 V, the linear regulator will have an efficiency of only

50%. A standard switching regulator has an efficiency of at least 80%.

 

DC/AC Converter or Inverter

 

Inverters are used when your equipment requires AC power. Inverters chop

and invert the DC current to generate a square wave that is later filtered to

approximate a sine wave and eliminate undesired harmonics. Very few

inverters actually supply a pure sine wave as output. Most models available

on the market produce what is known as "modified sine wave", as their voltage

output is not a pure sinusoid. When it comes to efficiency, modified sine

wave inverters perform better than pure sinusoidal inverters.

 

Be aware that not all the equipment will accept a modified sine wave as voltage

input. Most commonly, some laser printers will not work with a modified

sine wave inverter. Motors will work, but they may consume more power than

if they are fed with a pure sine wave. In addition, DC power supplies tend to

warm up more, and audio amplifiers can emit a buzzing sound.

Aside from the type of waveform, some important features of inverters include:

 

• Reliability in the presence of surges.

Inverters have two power ratings:

one for continuous power, and a higher rating for peak power. They are

capable of providing the peak power for a very short amount of time, as

when starting a motor. The inverter should also be able to safely interrupt

itself (with a circuit breaker or fuse) in the event of a short circuit, or if the

requested power is too high.

 

• Conversion efficiency. Inverters are most efficient when providing 50% to

90% of their continuous power rating. You should select an inverter that

most closely matches your load requirements. The manufacturer usually

provides the performance of the inverter at 70% of its nominal power.

 

• Battery charging. Many inverters also incorporate the inverse function:

the possibility of charging batteries in the presence of an alternative source

of current (grid, generator, etc). This type of inverter is known as a charger/

inverter.

 

• Automatic fall-over. Some inverters can switch automatically between

different sources of power (grid, generator, solar) depending on what is available.

When using telecommunication equipment, it is best to avoid the use of DC/

AC converters and feed them directly from a DC source. Most communications

equipment can accept a wide range of input voltage.

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