[belval]

> Dumb question, why run inverters?

Can't say for OP, but DC appliances are just difficult to find, usually more expensive due to economies of scale and not as uniform in voltage (12/24/48V) as AC appliances. If your battery is in a shed somewhere it's also much easier to run a smaller gauge AC wire than setup distribution for your DC power.

Most large system are also 48V so you need to get it down to 12/24V which adds components anyway, at which point you might as well just have an inverter and not worry about any of that.

[bruce511]

You also need some sort of battery management, and inverters typically have this built in as well.

So yeah, you can get by without an inverter, but then you need a battery charger manager so as not to overcharge, and (depending on the battery chemistry) something to cut off the battery as it runs down. (Lead acid for example shouldn't go below 50%).