Double ?? Ouch! As in $5000? For something 1/4 the weight of Sunny Island?
SB was about $2500 list, $1800 street price. Bringing out a product that costs more isn't a way to win market share, but if for some reason it doesn't impact sales, then it could make sense.
Now if the 11.4kW model was double the 7.7kW, that would be OK. I'm not sure that SBS has any hardware costs SB doesn't have, and Smart Energy should just have a couple more inputs.
Great news if it works downstream of SI while managing its battery appropriately. Of course, as a GT PV inverter it is expected to; the question is how battery is managed. I didn't think people would be interested in a hierarchy of batteries, however. I just wanted that to keep SI's lead-acid at float.
REC BMS? That works for US model SI. European model SI has a different list of supported batteries. SBS has a list of HV batteries, and I haven't been able to find out what BMS that needs. REC of course supports up to 128s, although I don't know if that works with REC-SI BMS.
The hybrid inverter at the heart of the SMA Energy System, with three backup options: Sunny Boy Smart Energy ► Discover now!
www.sma-america.com
SB Secure Power provided 120V up to 2000W direct from PV panels.
SBS Secure Power provided 120V up to 2000W from battery.
Dumb Energy "Backup Insecure" provides 120V up to 1920W ... only while the sun shines??
... and let me guess, it won't recharge battery from PV, either, with grid down.
I sure hope it supports ABU. With 11.4kW, they could have something here.