APPARATUS COMPRISING AN INVERTER

The present disclosure relates to an apparatus comprising a controller, an inverter, a load and a DC link. The DC link is coupled to the load and couplable to a power source. The load comprises an AC electrical component. The inverter is configured to provide an output voltage and an output current to the AC electrical component, the output voltage having an output frequency. The controller is configured to: evaluate a component startup criterion relating to whether the AC electrical component is performing a startup process; in response to a determination that the component startup criterion has been met, operate the inverter in a protected startup mode; and when operating the inverter in the protected startup mode, control the output frequency such that the output frequency increases with time until the output frequency reaches a predefined operating frequency.