Discover SMA Home Storage and SMA Sunny Boy Smart Energy

26. January 2024

Technic & Trends

Maximum yields and a future-proof energy storage solution are achievable with SMA’s new residential product line. With the Home Storage, SMA has finally launched a home storage system onto the market and expanded this way its product portfolio. Moreover, with the launch of the one-phase SMA Sunny Boy Smart Energy hybrid inverter, the German manufacturer has successfully completed its product line of smaller hybrid inverters. Here we take a closer look at the products.

SMA Home Storage: squared, practical …

The first thing you notice when looking at the home storage unit is its square, slim and stackable design. It can be installed back-to-back, on the wall, or on a baseplate—which needs to be ordered separately.

So far, the SMA Home Storage is compatible with the hybrid inverters SMA Sunny Boy Smart Energy and SMA Sunny Tripower Smart Energy. With the 1-phase device, you can connect a capacity between 3.28 and 13.12 kWh and with the 3-phase device a capacity between 6.56 and 16.4 kWh.

In this table we have summarized other important technical details for you:

Usable capacity	3.28 kWh–16.40 kWh
Weight per battery module	38 kg
Dimensions per battery module (WxHxD)	610 x 483 x 214.6 mm
Cell composition	LFP (lithium iron phosphate)
Self-consumption	2 W
Warranty	8000 life cycles and 10 years of warranty (registration required)

… Too good! Your advantages with SMA Home Storage

The SMA Home Storage System is easy to upgrade: installation is quick and easy via plug and play. Thanks to the SMA 360° App, you always have all the important information at your fingertips. Particularly practical for retrofitting and upgrading: you can add more battery modules up to two years after installation. This is possible thanks to the SMA system, which equips each individual module with a battery management system, rather than using one system for the entire stack.

Thanks to its compatibility with hybrid inverters, the home storage system from SMA is a perfect solution for new PV systems. It is also appropriate for PV beginners who want to first test out a small home storage system. For end users, the SMArt system is of course particularly attractive because of the interaction between the various components. More energy-intensive applications such as e-mobility with PV power are also made possible by SMA Home Storage. Here is an example:

Let’s use an SMA Home Storage 13.1 kWh system with 4 batteries and SMA Sunny Boy Smart Energy 4.0.
The maximum charge and discharge rate is 4.0 kW per hour.
This means that under good conditions it only takes about 3 hours and 20 minutes to fully charge or discharge the battery stack.
The full stack provides enough energy to power an electric car like the VW ID 4 for around 80 kilometres – so a fully charged system has more than enough energy reserve for everyday driving.

SMA Sunny Boy Smart Energy

The SMA Sunny Boy Smart Energy is the smallest hybrid inverter of the SMA product family. It can be installed by following the instructions provided by the 360° app.

To ensure a trouble-free installation, the inverter uses standard cable connections and the new SMA Easy Lock system for an easy opening and closing mechanism of the cover with just one screw. The inverter is compatible with the SMA Home Storage and the BYD HVM.

Further technical details are summarized here or can be found in the corresponding data sheet in our shop:

Power	3.6 – 6.0 kW
Min. input voltage	60 V
Phase	One-phase
MPPT	3
Max. usable input current	15 A
Max. short-circuit current	Up to 30 A
Back-up-output	Integrated backup power light functionality Backup power capable with a switch box (not launched yet)
Digital output	SG-Ready

Small but powerful: areas of application

Being the “brain” of each PV system, the inverter comes with all necessary features. With its three MPP trackers, it has the functionality of a larger device even though it is a 1-phase inverter and better suited for smaller roof systems. This makes it possible to realize almost any roof configuration. In addition, the initial voltage of 60 V is quite low, enabling the installation of just 2 modules per string – a perfect solution for tiny garage roofs.

Do you already have a heat pump at home and would like it to communicate with the inverter? In this case, the SMA Sunny Boy Smart Energy is a viable option, as it has SG-Ready capabilities.

Everything included: The SMArt universe

Both products can be integrated into the Sunny Portal. With the basic version, the energy flow is measured by means of the SMA Energy Meters. This way, data from both the inverter and the storage system can be displayed.

However, if you want to implement an intelligent energy management system and control several SMA products on a prognosis basis, you should opt for the SMA Sunny Home Manager 2.0 instead of the SMA Energy Meter. This enables the heat pump, for example, to be integrated into the EMS system and system owners to convert PV electricity into usable hot water. PV electricity can also be used for a wallbox: all you have to do is incorporate an SMA EV charger to use the surplus power for charging your e-vehicle.

Additionally, a Wi-Fi radio-controlled socket or the conventional EEBUS and SEMAP interfaces can be used to integrate home appliances with the Sunny Portal. This guarantees total control over your energy consumption.

Conclusion

The technical features of both products are very impressive. They reflect the current technological developments and make your home future-proof. The home storage system with its own BMS per battery module makes it clear that this SMA’s product has been designed to be beginner-friendly. This enables PV beginners to familiarize themselves with the system before expanding it. This 1-phase inverter is the perfect solution for small households.

Summary:

SMA finally launched its own home storage system.
This has features such as expandability within 2 years.
The 1-phase inverter enables sector coupling and is very flexible.
Both products can be displayed in the Sunny Portal.