Inductive and capacitative loads

nickdearing88

Hi everyone.

I have a good understanding of electricity basics, especially with DC current. I built a few simple circuit boards in college. Since AC current can be much more complex, I've been trying to learn more about inductive and capacitative loads, impedance, waveform, etc.

I've been reading articles like this one, posted by @mcgivor in another post: http://www.electronics-tutorials.ws/accircuits/power-in-ac-circuits.html

When power is consumed and returned in inductive and capacitative loads, how does an inverter handle this "returned power" with respect to the DC side?

For example, let's say a capacitor draws 100w between 0 - 90 degrees then returns 100w between 90 - 180 degrees of the sine wave. The "real power" consumed would be zero, no net change. In the case of an off-grid system, is the inverter pulling the 100w then returning it to the battery? I'm eliminating the inverter tare load and efficiency for simplicity.

Estragon

My (limited) understanding is the "real power" of zero is useful work. In a real circuit the inverter still has to create the current, with associated losses, so less than 100% is returned to the battery.

mike95490

this article
http://www.screenlightandgrip.com/html/emailnewsletter_generators.html#anchorPrinciples of Operation
 is a very good  read about power factor loads (inductive, capacitive)

jonr

It depends on the inverter design.   Some store the energy in DC capacitors, some can put it back into the battery.