Whether indoors or outdoors this high-efficiency inverter can provide clean AC to power all your small appliances like fans, lights, soldering irons, etc.
Operating Principle of an Inverter
An inverter can be taken as a crude form of UPS. Obviously the main use of an inverter is only for powering common electrical appliances like lights and fans during a power failure.
As the name suggests the basic function of an inverter is to invert an input direct voltage (12VDC) into a much larger magnitude of alternating voltage (generally 110VAC or 220VAC).
Before learning how to build an inverter, let’s first understand the following fundamental elements of an inverter and its operating principle:
Oscillator: An oscillator converts the input DC (Direct Current) from a lead acid battery into an oscillating current or a square wave which is fed to the secondary winding of a power transformer. In the present circuit, IC 4049 has been used for the oscillatorsection.
Transformer: Here the applied oscillating voltage is stepped up as per the ratio of the windings of the transformer and an AC much higher than the input DC source becomes available at the primary winding or the output of the inverter.
Charger:During power backupswhen the battery gets discharged to a considerable level, the charger section is used to charge the battery once the AC mains is restored.
*Disclaimer:This project should be taken on at your own risk and is recommended for those who have experience building their own circuits. Neither the author of the article, nor Bright Hub Engineeringbears no responsibility for negative outcomes to this tutorial.
How to Build an Inverter
To clearly understand how to build an inverter, let’s go through the following simple construction details:
*.As per the circuit schematic first complete the assembly of the oscillator section consisting of the smaller parts and the IC. It is best done by interconnecting the component leads itself and soldering the joints.
*.Next fit the power transistors into the appropriately drilled aluminum heat sinks. These are made by cutting an aluminum sheet into the given sizes and bending them at the edges so that it can be clamped.
*.Do not fit the transistors directly on to the heat sinks. Use mica isolation kit to avoid direct contact and short circuiting of the transistors with each other and the ground.
