No, you don't have to read up - the 18 kWp colleague is right :) The important thing is first of all to have as much photovoltaic capacity as possible. In winter, you will be glad about every kWp. And in summer, the surpluses don't bother you since they pay for the system (even more so with a west/east roof).
A storage system does increase self-sufficiency and self-consumption - but currently still unprofitable (and ecologically questionable... these things are not exactly compostable). Buying a storage system today only makes sense if it is directly subsidized or a funding prerequisite for, for example, Kfw 40+. Otherwise, a storage system can simply be retrofitted, meaning you can also tackle the storage topic when these things become cheaper in a few years.