DC Converter (Inverter)

The DC Converter (Inverter) of a car converts Alternating Current, or AC electricity to Direct Current, or DC electricity. This is accomplished by taking the sinusoidal voltage and converting it into a smooth DC waveform. Some common types of converters include:

A switching converter; this converts the alternating source of electricity from the power grid to line current in a building.

A hybrid inverter; this converts alternator output to battery back-up power while also converting the incoming AC input. This is why hybrids often provide regenerative braking at low speeds

A buck/boost converter; this is used in electric vehicles and can be used as an on-board charger for storage batteries when they are not needed.

A regulator; this protects the car battery (or battery bank) from being damaged by overcharging.

An AC-DC power supply converts any source of AC power to DC and is commonly used to power computers and other electrically powered devices.