Inverter & Grid Interface
The DC bus is inverted to grid-standard AC, giving the burner control over how firmly and flexibly it delivers power to the load.
From DC bus to grid AC
Once the train's output is gathered on a common DC bus, a power-electronic inverter converts it to alternating current at grid voltage and frequency. This is mature technology shared with solar, battery, and HVDC systems. Its role for the burner is to present a stable, standards-compliant AC source to the grid or to a co-located data-center load, isolating the grid from the converter physics upstream.
Grid-forming capability
Modern inverters can run grid-forming, meaning they set voltage and frequency rather than merely following an existing grid. A grid-forming burner can start a load island, provide inertia-like support, and stabilize a weak grid — useful for a generator sited next to a large, sensitive data-center load. This is a control-mode choice enabled by the DC-bus architecture, not a change to the fusion physics.
What the interface controls
- Real and reactive power delivered to the grid or load.
- Voltage and frequency regulation, including grid-forming operation.
- Ride-through of grid faults without tripping the burner.
- Power quality — harmonics and flicker — within grid-code limits.
Why this matters for MetroVolt
The value proposition of MetroVolt is firm power co-located with load. The inverter is where firmness becomes controllable: it decides how the burner's steady output is shaped for the grid or for a data center's exacting power needs. Because the DEC train has no rotating turbine, the inverter, not a governor, is the burner's primary handle on dispatch and grid behavior. Dispatch itself is discussed qualitatively in the grid section of this site.