Inverters consist of switching devices (one, two, four, six, or more) that are switched in a manner that converts a DC input voltage to AC. The switches are typically MOSFETs, IGBTs, SCRs, or others.

The half-bridge inverter provides an AC output voltage with a maximum of V_in/2, while the full bridge inverter can achieve a maximum of V_in. The half-bridge inverter requires two capacitors in parallel with the DC input to split the input into two halves, each at V_in/2 in a manner similar to a voltage divider, while the full-bridge does not have this requirement. The half-bridge rectifier uses two switches, while the full-bridge uses four switches.

Many advanced inverter topologies, switching schemes, and controllers exist in the power electronics literature, but the half-bridge is the most fundamental building block of most of them. In a half-bridge inverter, the input DC source is split into two halves using two identical capacitors of equal capacitance. The inverter then can tie the output to +V_dc/2 when the upper inverter switch is on, and to -V_dc/2 when the lower inverter switch is on. Both switches should not be on at the same time, and dead time when both are off should added using hardware or software circuitry.

It is expected from building this half-bridge inverter that the output voltage waveform is a square-wave with a maximum of V_dc/2 and a minimum of -V_dc/2 with some dead-time causing the output voltage to be zero for around 4% of the switching period.

Square-wave inverters have high total harmonic distortion (THD) and are rarely used in real applications, however, they are the building blocks of many more advanced inverters with better switching schemes, e.g. SPWM, that can provide more sinusoidal-like output voltages. This not only improves the THD, but also reduces filtering requirements for undesired harmonics in the output voltage except for the fundamental harmonic, e.g. at 50 or 60 Hz.

Inverters are very common in interfacing clean energy sources, e,g, solar photovoltaics, fuel cells, wind turbines, as well as with energy storage systems, e.g. batteries, with the grid. They are essential in uninterruptable power supplies (UPS systems), in micro-grids with clean energy penetration, and in hybrid and electric transportation systems. Among the main applications of inverters is in motor drives where motor control can be provided by adjusting the inverter switching patterns to achieve desired speed and/or torque.