Sailboat Inverters

Inverters are devices used to convert 12-volt DC battery electricity to AC 110-volt or 220-volt electricity. Special electronics in the device take constant level current and turn it into an alternating sine wave-shaped current. Kudos to the engineers who invented them.

Inverting Current

Inverters come in a variety of sizes and capacities. Small ones are simply plugged into a 12-volt DC outlet (formerly called cigarette lighters) and produce a modest AC power supply for running small devices like computers or small battery chargers for a cell phone or camera, for example.

Larger capacity inverter units will convert DC power from banks of batteries into AC power capable of powering a microwave oven or hair dryer. However, running devices like microwaves using energy derived from the batteries can deplete the batteries rapidly.

On a boat, if a large inverter is present, there will be a specially labeled AC outlet plug denoting it is an inverter outlet.