SMA against Fronius side by side
Both brands are approved for the same job: one inverter on a residential roof, sized under the 133 per cent rule so a 5 kW unit carries a 6.6 kW array. The lines that differ on a quote are the list price, the warranty term and who services it, and whether the unit is ready for a battery. List prices are public Australian supply-site figures read 27 October 2026, with GST added; installers buy below list and sell above it.
| Line | SMA | Fronius |
|---|---|---|
| List price, inc GST, supply only | $2,342 (Sunny Tripower 8.0, 8 kW) | $2,688 (Primo GEN24 5.0 SC, 5 kW) |
| Dollars per watt at list (ex GST) | $0.27 | $0.49 |
| Warranty | 5 years, 10 on registration | 5 years, 10 on registration |
| Type | string | string and hybrid |
| Residential series | Sunny Boy 1.5 to 6.0; Sunny Tripower 3.0 to 10.0; Sunny Tripower X 12 to 25 | Primo GEN24 3.0 to 6.0 SC; Primo GEN24 Plus 5.0 to 10.0; Symo GEN24 5.0 to 10.0 SC; Symo GEN24 Plus 5.0 to 10.0 |
| Peak efficiency (datasheet) | not stated | 97.6 per cent |
| Maximum PV input, 5 kW unit | n/a | 7.5 kW |
| Battery-ready (hybrid) version | No | Yes |
| Sold new in Australia | SMA announced it is leaving the Australian residential and commercial inverter market in April 2026 and will keep providing warranty support | Yes |
Price: $2,342 against $2,688
The gap at list is $346 inc GST, Fronius the dearer, on the 8 kW single-phase units most 6.6 kW quotes carry. That gap passes through to the quote plus margin, so a Fronius quote should sit about that far above a SMA quote from the same installer with everything else equal; a larger gap is margin or a different model. Every priced unit on the site is on the inverter prices page, and the quote check reads a whole quote against the index.
Warranty and efficiency
SMA: 5 years, 10 on registration. Secondary source; SMA's Australian factory warranty document was not read. The review states SMA will keep providing warranty support after leaving the market. Fronius: 5 years, 10 on registration. 5 years Fronius Warranty Plus from dispatch, extendable to 10, 15 or 20 years; Krannich Australia lists GEN24 units as 5 plus 5 years after free registration (27 October 2026). Where a maker's Australian document was not on a public page when we checked, the term comes from a secondary source, marked in the sources. A string inverter is the part of a solar system most likely to be replaced inside the panels' 25-year warranty, so the registered term and local service matter more than the sticker price; the inverter replacement page prices the swap.
Share of a 6.6 kW quote by capital: Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide, Canberra, Hobart and Darwin
Inverter list prices are national; what changes by city is the whole-system offer the unit sits inside, so the same gap is a bigger share of a Perth quote ($5,294 standard, 6.6 kW) than a Sydney one ($6,170). The $346 gap is 7 per cent of the Perth standard offer and 6 per cent of Sydney's, close to the distance between the standard and premium offers in the index ($1,228 in Perth).
| City | Standard 6.6 kW | Premium 6.6 kW | SMA share | Fronius share |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sydney | $6,170 | $7,284 | 38% | 44% |
| Melbourne | $6,218 | $7,234 | 38% | 43% |
| Brisbane | $6,756 | $8,020 | 35% | 40% |
| Perth | $5,294 | $6,522 | 44% | 51% |
| Adelaide | $5,812 | $7,126 | 40% | 46% |
| Canberra | $6,144 | $7,310 | 38% | 44% |
| Hobart | $7,544 | $8,886 | 31% | 36% |
| Darwin | $10,250 | $12,260 | 23% | 26% |
Source: Solar Choice Price Index, October 2026, standard and premium installer offers after STCs. Basis of each figure: 3, 5 and 10 kW cells are published by Solar Choice; 6.6 kW and 8 kW are interpolated and 13 kW and 20 kW scaled by Solar Scorecard at the same dollars per watt (derived); cities Solar Choice does not index use the nearest indexed capital. Where our own quotes series holds ten or more checks for a city and size, that cell is replaced by the quotes median and marked with its count.
Which one, and when
SMA. German-made string inverters with a long record in Australia; with SMA leaving the residential market in 2026, a new SMA quote is remaining stock, and the question to ask is who services the ten-year warranty locally.
Fronius. Austrian-made string and hybrid inverters with the widest installer base in Australia; the GEN24 Plus hybrid takes BYD Battery-Box HV and Fronius Reserva batteries, and every GEN24 has a basic backup output (PV Point) without a battery.
For a battery now or later: SMA: no hybrid version listed; Fronius: Primo GEN24 Plus 5.0 to 10.0 (single phase, 5 to 10 kW, hybrid). The solar with battery page prices the package and the three-phase page the export limits that decide the larger units.
Related cost guides
Every price on Solar Scorecard comes from the Solar Scorecard Price Index, read monthly from installer offers after the STC discount. These guides apply it to SMA vs Fronius: inverter price, warranty and fit compared, October 2026.
- The best solar inverter: six brands ranked from list price, warranty and datasheet efficiency.
- Inverter replacement cost: supply and labour by inverter type, and the 2027 standards.
- Three-phase solar cost: the inverter upcharge, distributor limits and the phase-conversion fee.
- Anatomy of a solar quote: a real quote taken apart line by line, including the STC audit.
SMA vs Fronius questions
Is SMA cheaper than Fronius?
$2,342 against $2,688 inc GST at list: SMA is $346 cheaper for a 8 kW single-phase unit, before the installer's margin.
Which has the longer warranty, SMA or Fronius?
10 years for SMA against 10 years for Fronius at the registered term; as standard it is 5 against 5. The warranty section above gives the conditions and the documents are in the sources.
Is SMA better than Fronius?
Both are approved for the same job and both carry the same panels. What differs is set out above: the list price ($2,342 against $2,688), the warranty (5 years, 10 on registration against 5 years, 10 on registration), the hybrid versions and where each brand sits in the market, which the brand pages describe.
SMA or Fronius for a battery?
SMA: no hybrid version listed; Fronius: Primo GEN24 Plus 5.0 to 10.0 (single phase, 5 to 10 kW, hybrid). A hybrid version at list costs more than the string version of the same brand; the inverter prices page lists both where a price is public.
Does SMA or Fronius cost more in Perth than in Sydney?
$0 difference at list: both brands price nationally. The 6.6 kW system around the unit is $5,294 in Perth and $6,170 in Sydney at the standard offer in October 2026, so either inverter is a larger share of a Perth quote; the table by capital above gives each brand's share.