SMA Inverter Review
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SMA is a world-renowned solar inverter manufacturer and one of the few companies offering high-performance solar inverters designed for residential, commercial and utility-scale grid-tie systems, as well as small residential and large-scale off-grid solar systems.
SMA Inverters Quick Summary
First established: 1981 - Long-standing company
Best residential solar inverter: Sunny Boy 5kW
Best commercial solar inverter: Tripower Core 1 50kW
Price bracket: High $$$$$
Warranty: Standard - 10 years (5+5) options up to 25 years
Quality and reliability: Excellent 5/5
Service and support: Very good 4.5/5
System Monitoring: Very Good 4/5
Overall: Highly Recommended ☆☆☆☆☆
Company History
SMA is a solar icon. The German company was established in 1981, which is prehistoric in the world of solar, and for a long time, the SMA string inverters, branded Sunny Boy and Sunny Tripower, were head and shoulders above any other on the market. In Australia, from when the solar boom started around 2008, if you were to ask any solar installer which string inverter on the market was the best (regardless of price), they would no doubt utter the letters SMA. That is no longer the case, at least not in the 5 - 30kW inverter sizes. While SMA is still a leader in the large-scale inverter market, they are not ranked as high for small to medium residential and commercial installations.
Despite the high profile, SMA has faced tough competition over recent years, and one area where they have struggled to compete is in the rapidly growing hybrid or home energy storage market, where hybrid and multi-mode inverters have dominated.
See the latest opinions and SMA inverter reviews in our solar information forum.
The SMA range of inverters
Sunny Boy - Single Phase residential Solar Inverters - 1.5kW to 6.0kW
Sunny Tripower - 3-phase Solar Inverters - 3.0kW to 10kW
Sunny Tripower X - 3-phase Solar Inverters - 12kW to 25kW - New in 2022
Sunny Tripower Smart Energy - Hybrid Inverters - 5.0kW to 10kW - New in 2022
Sunny Tripower Core 1 & Core 2 - Commercial Inverters - 50kW to 110kW
Sunny Boy Storage - Battery storage Inverters - 2.5kW to 6.0kW
Sunny Island - Off-grid multi-mode Inverter-chargers - 3kW to 6.5W+
Sunny boy single phase residential inverters (Red), and small scale 3-phase Tripower inverters (blue).
SMA sunny island (yellow), Sunny Boy Storage and Sunny Tripower 3 phase inverters.
The Sunny Boy Inverter Story
The popular SMA Sunny boy TL series inverter was one of the best selling solar inverters ever.
When it came to reliability, SMA was for a long time seen as the only option. This was hugely important in a market getting flooded with new inverter brands every year, and many of those inverters continually proving the proverb “you get what you pay for.'' SMA was one of a few inverters that installers knew they could count on to last for 10 years or more. SMA inverters were all German made, which fed into peoples preconceived idea that German manufacturing was superior. This was very true at the time as the fledgling Chinese inverter manufacturing industry was not producing reliable inverters.
Over the last few years, the superiority that SMA held for so long has eroded slightly. Not so much because its products or service have diminished, but because the competition has become much tougher. There are now a number of inverter brands around the world that experienced installers are happy to vouch for. Whilst Fronius is now at the top of this list, there are a number of Chinese inverter brands including Sungrow, Huawei and Delta which also offer reliable inverters at very competitive prices.
The Sunny boy AV series is fully manufactured in Germany.
It is perhaps this change in the competitive landscape that led SMA to try manufacturing in China in order to reduce costs. One of the big selling points for SMA has always been that its inverters were manufactured in Germany. That began to change around 2013 when SMA bought a majority stake in Zeversolar. The Clean Energy Reviews team was quite positive about this move, hoping that SMA would be able to transform this Chinese inverter manufacturer and create a low-cost reliable inverter. However, whilst the Zeverlution models rolled out after SMA’s takeover did get some positive interest, Zeversolar has not to this point made big headway into the residential inverter market. The foray into China via Zeversolar was potentially a strategic move to investigate the viability of manufacturing their own branded Sunny Boy inverters in China.
Made in Germany
In response to the drop in sales, late in 2018 SMA decided to go back to its roots and consolidate its operations back in Germany. This move was very well received in the industry. It is important to emphasise that we are not concerned with the quality of manufacturing in China, as some of the worlds best products are made in China. It’s more about SMA’s desire to go back to its roots and focus solely on high-quality production and reliability rather than reducing costs.
Sunny Boy - AV series Inverters
The tiny Sunny Boy inverters from 1.5 to 2.5 kW
The Sunny Boy is the name given to SMA’s residential single-phase inverters. After a slow start, these sleek, efficient, lightweight inverters are now gaining in popularity around the world and are rated as one of the best quality solar string inverters.
The current AV range is available in 3.0, 3.6, 4.0, 5.0 and 6.0kW sizes, along with the very compact and lightweight Sunny Boy 1.5, 2.0 and 2.5kW.
The new Sunny Boy models have wifi as standard, however like most inverter manufacturers nowadays they do not have a display. This is becoming more common as the display is one of the weakest points on any inverter. The inverter setup and monitoring are now managed using wifi or Bluetooth. The main problem with this is it can be frustrating if you have connection issues, hence why an intuitive, easy-to-use and robust mobile app is important.
The most important thing when it comes to an inverter is reliability, and the Sunny Boy was, for a long time, seen as the most reliable inverter on the market. So far, the Sunny Boy AV series has generally had a very good rap from installers, with the only gripes being with network or wifi connections, a common issue with most display-less inverters. While the latest model has not been around long enough to be sure it has the same reliability as previous Sunny Boy TL models, there is no reason to think that the new AV series is not built to the same high level of quality.
Download the SMA Sunny Boy AV series datasheet.
Sunny Tripower - 3 Phase inverters
Sunny Tripower AV series inverter
The Sunny Tripower is the 3 phase version of the Sunny Boy and is available in a wide range of sizes for residential and commercial installations. The smaller residential Tripower also had a revamp recently and comes in a tidy, lightweight, compact package similar to the Sunny Boy. The new AV Tripower comes in 3.0 to 6.0kW range, which you could easily mistake for a Sunny Boy, both in features and size/weight (the main difference being the deep blue colour for the Tripower and bright red for the Sunny Boy). There is also an 8.0 and 10.0kW model in the new compact efficient package.
For the larger commercial systems, the old faithful SMA Sunny Tripower still comes in the 15000TL, 20000TL and 25000TL versions. These proven, reliable inverters are still very popular for all kinds of larger-scale commercial systems up to several hundred KW in size.
Download the SMA Tripower AV series datasheet.
Sunny Tripower X
It's been a long wait, but the next-generation Sunny Tripower X inverter was finally launched last week in Germany. The new 3-phase solar inverter platform replaces the decade-old Sunny Tripower TL series, which had built a reputation as one of the most solid and reliable 3-phase inverters ever produced.
The new Tripower X is available in power ratings from 12 to 25kW, making it perfect for large residential or smaller commercial solar systems. Besides the new white colour and modern design, the inverter comes packed with innovations and features, including 3 MPPTs with high input current (35A Isc) ratings for parallel strings and an inbuilt arc-fault circuit interrupter (ArcFix). More notably, the Tripower X series incorporates a new integrated control system built on the SMA ennexOS platform, which can monitor up to five different inverters and one energy meter, making system setup and configuration much more straightforward.
Download the SMA Tripower X series datasheet.
Tripower Core 1
The 50kW SMA Core 1 free-standing commercial inverter featuring 6 MPPT’s
A special mention is warranted for the Sunny Tripower Core 1, 50kW inverter. This award winning inverter clearly highlights SMA’s focus on larger scale systems and why SMA is so popular in the commercial solar space. SMA calls this “the world’s first free-standing string inverter”, meaning it can be fixed to the ground, or roof, rather than onto a wall.
The unique design is the first thing you notice about the Core 1, but it does not stop there. The 6 MPPT inputs allows for a lot of flexibility in design, and improved performance if there is a need to place arrays on slightly different angles, or orientations. This flexible inverter allows for reasonably small 50kW installs, right up to 1000kW (or 1MW). The Core 1 comes packed with features at a price point that make it highly competitive in the small to medium commercial market.
Tripower Core 2
The new 110kW Tripower Core 2 inverter from SMA features 24 string inputs and 12 x MPPT’s
The larger 110kW Tripower Core 2 inverter is the most powerful string solar inverter released by SMA and features impressive 24-string inputs using 12 x MPPTs. Unlike the free-standing Core 1 inverter, the Core 2 inverter is built around a more traditional wall or floor-mounted design, which is similar in layout to the offerings from other leading manufacturers. The Core 2 is built in collaboration with Sungrow and based on the SG110CX. The inverter is designed for large commercial and utility-scale systems as multi-string inverters are generally considered more flexible and reliable than central inverters.
Download the full SMA Tripower Core 2 datasheet.
Sunny Highpower & Sunny Central
Whilst this review is focused mainly on SMA’s residential and small commercial offerings, it is worth noting that SMA is a very popular choice for large commercial and utility scale systems. Along with the popular and capable Tripower Core 1, SMA recently released the Sunny Highpower PEAK 3 150KW inverter for large scale power plants operating up to 1500V DC and designed to be flexible and easily scalable.
SMA also has a unique range of high powered solar and battery inverters rated over 100kW, including the Sunny Highpower string inverter, and Sunny Central central inverter, as well as the Sunny Central Storage battery inverter.
The SMA Sunny Central - Central Inverter for large MW utility scale solar plants.
Sunny Highpower PEAK 3 - More details coming soon.
SMA Energy storage inverters
Sunny Tripower Smart Energy - Hybrid Inverter
NEW in 2022
The new Sunny Tripower Smart Energy inverter is the first true all-in-one 3-phase hybrid inverter ever released by SMA. This is surprising considering SMA was at the forefront of hybrid and energy storage systems back in the mid-2000s with the flagship Sunny island inverter-charger. Most of SMA's competitors have had hybrid inverters on the market for many years, but like their main rival Fronius, SMA took their time and developed a highly capable and powerful hybrid inverter that will undoubtedly become a popular choice for many SMA fans.
The Tripower hybrid inverter is available in power ratings from 5.0 to 10kW, making it perfect for medium to large households. The specifications are impressive, featuring a wide MPPT voltage range, 150% solar oversizing, and respectable backup power ratings with an adjustable backup time. The adjustable backup time setting enables it to be used as either a UPS or to temporarily cut power for up to 10 seconds to notify the user that a grid outage has occurred and thus be conscious of how much energy is being consumed.
The new Sunny Tripower smart energy hybrid inverter key specifications
Sunny Boy Storage - SBS
To add battery storage to a grid-connected home, SMA developed the unique Sunny Boy Storage Inverter (or SBS as it is more commonly known) to create an AC-coupled energy storage system. The SBS inverters connect with the popular high voltage (300-500V) batteries, such as the LG Chem RESU-H and can be AC-coupled together with any common solar inverter. However, for best results, the SBS should be installed with an SMA Sunny Boy inverter to enable monitoring of the whole system on one common platform. The most significant advantage of AC-coupling is the ability to retrofit a battery to any existing solar installation easily.
AC-coupled Sunny boy storage inverter for adding battery storage to new or existing solar systems.
The first SBS2.5 released in 2016 was not a huge success as it was limited to 2.5kW charge and discharge power, which is a little undersized for most modern households. The second-generation SBS released in 2018 (shown) is far more powerful and is the first battery inverter with multi-string battery connections, meaning it can be connected with up to three separate batteries. The new SBS AC coupled battery inverters are available in 3 sizes, 3.7kW, 5.0kW & 6.0kW and have high peak power ratings of 4.6kW, 6.3kW & 7.5kW respectively. The two larger inverters are much better suited to handle the relatively high loads of modern electric households.
The Sunny Boy Storage inverters are able to provide backup power with an additional backup box, of which there are two options. The standard manual changeover switch for ‘essential circuits’ or the fully automatic backup unit if larger loads are needed to be backed up in the event of a prolonged blackout.
Download the full SMA Sunny Boy Storage SBS Inverter datasheet
Sunny Island Inverters
SMA’s Sunny Island (SI) inverters are highly regarded in the off-grid solar world being one of the few high quality off-grid inverters with proven long lasting reliability. The Sunny Island series was first launched over a decade ago and quickly became the go to inverter for any serious off-grid installation for both single phase and advanced three-phase remote power systems.
SMA Sunny Island off-grid and hybrid multi-mode Inverter.
However, just as the Sunny Boy string inverters lost some ground over recent years, so too has the Sunny Island (SI) due to some serious competition from the likes of Selectronic in Australia, Outback Power in the USA and Victron Energy in Europe. While the Sunny Island has had a few minor updates, these three well-established companies have made some big advancements, especially in the grid-connected hybrid storage segment. They also offer high-performance off-grid/hybrid inverter solutions at the same level as the SMA Sunny Island series.
See the full SMA Sunny Island datasheet.
Best off-grid inverter for extreme locations
The Sunny Island is the only high-powered multi-mode inverter with an IP54 weather rating. This means it can be installed outside in relatively exposed locations. Most competing inverters in this class are only IP20 rated, which means they can only be installed in well-protected areas or indoors. The Sunny Island inverters also incorporate an advanced active cooling system, which helps improve reliability and performance in high temperatures.
The SMA sunny island inverter temperature power derating chart
Grid-tie Energy Storage
In regards to grid-connected hybrid systems, the biggest downfall of the Sunny Island is the lack of an internal AC bypass contactor. This feature enables pass-through power and almost instantaneous grid-isolation, something most of the other off-grid/multi-mode inverters offer. Without the internal contactor, it is more complex and difficult to set up a hybrid backup solar system and it does not offer instantaneous backup in the event of a blackout.
On the plus side, one of the unique capabilities of the Sunny Island inverters is the level of scalability which is unmatched by almost all other systems. The Sunny Islands can be used to power a simple off-grid home right through to large scale micro-grid’s for powering remote communities and commercial operations using the powerful and flexible SMA cluster controllers.
SMA AC coupled off-grid solar system designed and installed by Off-grid Energy Australia.
System Monitoring
The SMA monitoring platform, known as the Sunny Portal, set the standard in the early days of online monitoring but, after almost 10 years is starting to look very dated. It still offers some great detailed insight and functionality but isn’t very intuitive and is a little challenging to navigate when trying to find specific data.
SMA Sunny Portal
The Sunny Portal is the free cloud-based monitoring platform from SMA. It provides a great insight into the performance of the solar system, plus more detail can be obtained once you can figure out how to navigate the rather tricky menu and charting interface. This is a vital piece of software given that the new Sunny Boy and Sunny Tripower inverters do not have a display. The latest model SMA inverters all ship with wifi webconnect as standard, so it is relatively easy to set up the Sunny Portal monitoring.
The SMA sunny portal monitoring platform is good but looks very dated
The (expensive) SMA sunny home manager 2.0 energy meter.
The Sunny Home Manager is required to enable complete energy consumption and solar generation monitoring, however it is prohibitively expensive compared to most other energy meters on the market at close to double the price at $800. For those who can afford the optional Sunny Home Manager 2.0 energy meter, it provides gives great insight into home energy consumption. Also, if Tigo optimisers are added to the panels, Sunny Portal allows installers and property owners to see the performance of individual panels in real-time.
New SMA Energy App
It’s been a long wait but SMA has finally released a newly updated monitoring app called SMA Energy. The previous SMA mobile App was very dated, had limited features and didn’t provide real-time or direct system monitoring. Fortunately, the new modern app has addressed many of these issues and is packed with new smart control features when coupled with the home manager 2 and EV charger. However, user feedback has been very poor so far due to bugs and intermittent data. It appears SMA still has some work to do to provide a reliable and fully functional app.
The new SMA Energy mobile monitoring app with improved user interface and new smart features - see full details here
SMA ennexOS energy management platform
In 2020, SMA launched a completely new energy management system called ennexOS, built around a new smart IoT data management device. The system is primarily designed to cater to larger-scale solar and energy storage systems, and it also manages power for different applications such as heating and refrigeration. The central energy management device is the SMA Data Manager, which is also used for communication, setup and commissioning. The device can be wall or DIN rail mounted and connects to an Ethernet network or uses a WLAN interface to allow access without using the customer's IT infrastructure.
The advanced SMA ennexOS energy management system for complete building energy flow integration and control
SMA describes the system as: “ennexOS is the first IoT platform for energy management that combines the data from different energy sectors in a complete system. Besides electricity, this also includes heat, refrigeration, cooling, storage and mobility. ennexOS analyzes all energy flows and will also intelligently control them in the future. The goal is to efficiently use available energy across all sectors and to identify potential savings.”
Learn more about the ennexOS platform and data manager.
SMA partnership with Tigo
SMA has bought a stake in the power optimiser (optimizer) company Tigo which develops a product used for panel level monitoring, rapid shutdown, as well as power optimisation. In fact the TS4-R model optimiser (optimizer) is also modular, so it can be installed simply for monitoring and rapid shutdown, or if required the optional optimiser very easily slots in to the device. SMA engineered the new Sunny Boy models so that the Tigo TS4-R model will work seamlessly with the Sunny Boy 3.0 - 6.0 models. The big selling point of the Tigo TS4-R is that the power optimiser does not need to be installed on every panel in the solar system, it can just be added to a particular panel that will be affected by shade, thus reducing the cost significantly.
Note that while SMA did manufacturer a Sunny Boy 240 micro inverter for a few years, they are not currently selling any micro inverters. We have mentioned that Fronius is a strong competitor to SMA in the small scale string inverter market, however, we should note that Enphase poses serious competition with its micro inverters also. There is strong data to suggest that whilst the upfront cost of an Enphase system is higher, the ROI is often greater than that of a string inverter system. Read more about Tigo optimisers vs micro inverters in our forum.
SMA Inverter Warranty
SMA offers a 5-year factory warranty on all inverters which is automatically extended to 10 years when the system is registered on the SMA homepage within 12 months after installation at www.my.sma-service.com/s/product-registration. The company also offers extended product warranties of 15, 20 and even 25 years for an additional fee which varies based on the country or region. You can expect to pay around $500 for an extended 20-year warranty on residential solar inverters. The warranty covers repair and replacement of the inverter, plus labour, parts, and shipping, provided they have been able to verify the problem. Learn more about the SMA extended warranty in Australia.
SMA also offers a free active ‘Smart Connected’ warranty service which provides ongoing system monitoring and performance analysis by SMA. If an issue is detected, it can be quickly and efficiently resolved, sometimes without the need for an installer to perform the often difficult and time-consuming onsite troubleshooting and diagnosis.
Considering the SMA inverter warranty period is 5 or 10 years, it’s unfortunate that the Sunny home manager, energy meter, and data manager warranty are a disproportionately shorter 2 year period. This is compounded by the fact that, unlike solar inverters, the various meters are installed inside a protected electrical enclosure and not exposed to the elements.
SMA inverter warranty details chart for solar inverters, hybrid inverters, and energy meters.
Conclusion
SMA manufactures some of the best quality and most reliable solar inverters in the world backed by an extensive warranty and great service. After being considered the world leader for many years, SMA did lose some of its shine in the smaller scale residential market but has made huge ground in the commercial and utility solar sector. While in the rapidly advancing hybrid and off-grid solar world, the once leading Sunny Island multi-mode inverters have grappled with tough competition from manufacturers focused solely in this space. However, the new Sunny Tripower hybrid inverter looks impressive and will no doubt bring SMA back to the forefront of home energy storage.
The company is cementing its place as a leader in the commercial and utility-scale solar inverter market with the impressive Tripower Core 1, Core 2, Sunny Highpower and Sunny island central inverters which have been at the forefront of the energy transition in Australia.
SMA is moving ahead and continuously improving with more advanced monitoring, upgrades to the Sunny Boy AV series and the new 3-phase version of the Sunny Tripower X. Feedback from solar installers and industry professionals is generally very positive, particularly on larger commercial systems, but we hope to see more progress from SMA in the residential solar and energy storage sector going forward with a single-phase version of the new hybrid inverter.
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