SMA - Inverter Reviews

About SMA

SMA, based in Germany, are the big granddaddy of inverter manufacturers. While the company has suffered as a result of cut-throat competition; like its solar inverters the firm continues to hang in there.

Australian Office Contact Details

Address: Level 1, 213 Miller Street, North Sydney NSW 2060
Tel: 02 9491 4200 (Mon-Fri 8am-6pm AEST)
Freecall: 1800 SMA AUS (1800 762 287) Mon-Fri 8am-6pm AEST
Email: [email protected]

Australian website

Company Info 

Founded way back in 1981, the company is based in Germany. SMA solar inverters were originally only produced in German factories, but the firm went through a period in 2017-2018 where they manufactured their "Sunny Boy" inverters, which are used extensively in home solar installations, in China.

Then in December 2018, SMA announced it intended to move manufacturing out of China. However, in May 2020 we were informed the company will continue to partly manufacture their Sunny Boy inverters in China and partly in Germany for the foreseeable future. At the moment, in late 2024, their Sunnyboy inverters are manufactured in China while their Sunny Tripower inverters are made in Germany.

The company has faced its share of challenges over the years from increasing competition and thinning margins (hence its China fling), but appeared to be turning things around until COVID hit - and has had mixed fortunes since.

In the first half of 2024, SMA achieved sales of €759.3 million compared to €778.9 million in the first half of 2023. Sales in the Home Solutions segment amounted to €109.9 million (H1 2023: €327.3 million) - so quite a drop. Overall shipments in 2023 were excellent - 20.5GW, compared to 12.2 GW in 2022. This was largely due to the firm's booming Large Scale & Project Solutions segment.

Overall, SMA has shipped more than 130 GW of solar inverter capacity globally to date. 

SMA Inverters - Core Products

The Sunny Boy and Sunny Tripower product lines form the core of SMA's home offerings. SMA also manufacture a battery inverter for off-grid applications called the Sunny Island.

Sunny Boy

The Sunny Boy series are single-phase inverters available in capacities from 1.5kW to 6kW. In the 3kW - 6kW, the inverters weigh 17.5kg and have dimensions of 435 mm x  470 mm x  176 mm. They have a wide operating temperature range of ?25°C to +60°C, offer 97% efficiency and have 2 MPPTs (Maximum Power Point Trackers).

Sunny Tripower

The Tripower range are 3-phase inverters available in capacities from 3kW to 10kW.  The 8kW - 10kW models measure 460 mm x 497 mm x 176 mm and weigh 20.5 kilograms. As with the Sunny Boys, Tripower's operating temperature range is -25 °C to +60 °C. They also have 2 MPPTs and are slightly more efficient at 98.3%.

SMA also produces the Sunny Tripower X, which is a larger series of inverters with 12-25kW capacity. 

Sunny Island

A battery inverter, the Sunny Island works with self-consumption, battery backup and off-grid systems. More than 20 different types of lithium-ion batteries can be used with the Sunny Island. 

Monitoring of SMA inverters happens via Sunny Portal, access to which is free. You can view Sunny Portal on your desktop/notebook computer, or an app for your phone.

Beyond home products, the company also produces inverters for commercial applications and thumping great central inverters for solar farms.

SMA's "Smart Connected" Monitoring

SMA's Smart Connected service - part of Sunny Portal - offers free and automatic 24/7 inverter monitoring. If the inverter fails, SMA will inform both the system owner and installer of an issue; which can help minimize downtime. 

SMA ShadeFix

It used to be that if your solar panels were partially shaded at times during the day, the go-to solutions were to use microinverters rather than string inverters, or add power optimisers to affected panels. But string inverter manufacturers have improved how they mitigate the effects of partial shading. In SMA's case, it's a feature optimistically called "ShadeFix".

You can compare specifications and estimated pricing of SMA residential solar products available in Australia with models from a bunch of other brands on the SolarQuotes inverter comparison table. 

SMA Inverter Warranty Notes

SMA Sunny Boy and Tripower inverters originally came with a standard 5 year warranty. But from 1 October 2021, all home inverters commissioned in Australia receive an extra 5 years of full warranty upon product registration - so a total of 10 years.

SMA have a strong local presence in Australia - first established in 2007 -  in the rare event you experience an issue requiring technical or warranty support.

The contact number for SMA support is 1800 SMA AUS (1800 762 287). Note that the initial voice message encourages inverter owners to first contact their installer. But if you stay on the line and choose the appropriate menu option, you'll find the SMA team to be very helpful in answering technical and warranty related questions.

If you're looking to find an SMA-certified installer to assist you with an existing installation, you can use SMA's "Power Up" online service here.

As you'll see from the SMA inverter reviews below, complaints about inverter performance or reliability pretty rare, which is why the brand is one of the most popular in Australia - and part of the reason why the company is currently listed as an SQ recommended inverter brand.

If you're an Australian owner of an SMA inverter, feel free to contribute your review and rating.