-Phil_ wrote: > Note that most 12v inverters are horribly efficient, so you'll be wasting > probably about 20% of the power as heat in the inverter, battery, and > wiring.
Small cheap inverter efficiency is usually poor, but big ones (1KW or more) are generally fairly good; otherwise heat production would be a problem. An 80% efficient 2KW inverter would have to get rid of 400W of heat, which would be very noticeable. (Heat is the bullshit detector of efficiency claims). I worked for Heart Interface (now Xantrex), which makes big (1KW and up) inverters. They were over 90% efficient. Competitor's inverters (Trace, Statpower, etc.) were similarly efficient. The "gotcha" for modified sinewave (i.e. square wave) inverters is that the inverter itself is pretty efficient, but they cause inefficiencies in the things they power. Motors and transformers run hotter, lights may be dimmer or flicker, and electronics with non-regulated power supplies may lose efficiency. I'm not sure what the PFC chargers in commercial EVs would make of a modified sinewave inverter. They might be just fine; after all, many PFC supplies work with even DC inputs, and aren't de-rated when doing so. Lee -- Excellence does not require perfection. -- Henry James But it *does* require attention to detail! -- Lee Hart -- Lee A. Hart https://www.sunrise-ev.com _______________________________________________ Address messages to [email protected] No other addresses in TO and CC fields HELP: http://www.evdl.org/help/
