[C320-list] Inverter - follow-up questions

[Dean Vermeire]

Hi again.

Thanks for all the good input so far.  I hate to ask really stupid 
questions, but somebody's got to do it.

It seems to me that I've got two choices - put in an inverter that takes 
DC from the batteries and runs them down while converting to AC, or put 
in a generator that uses some other energy source to run a motor that 
generates AC.  I look at the existing systems onboard, and I see a 
diesel motor that runs an alternator that produces DC to recharge my 
batteries.  I also have shore power (AC) that recharges the batteries by 
way of a battery charger, which I see listed in catalogs as a "battery 
charger / inverter".

Stupid question #1:  Are they calling the battery chargert an inverter 
because it is changing AC to DC?
Stupid question #2:  Why is a generator less expensive than a DC-to-AC 
inverter, when the generator must have similar circuitry in it?

Thanks,
Dean Vermeire
Moonstruck II (#847)