3 hours of free electricity every day: Can you get the Solar Sharer Offer?

What is the Solar Sharer Offer?

The Solar Sharer Offer (SSO) is a new regulated electricity plan overseen by the Australian Energy Regulator (AER).

Households that sign up can access up to 24kWh of free electricity each day during a set midday window.

Australia generates a huge amount of solar energy in the middle of the day, often more than we're actually using.

Rather than let it go to waste, the government wants households to run their big appliances during that window, such as heating and cooling, clothes dryers, washing machines and EV chargers.

This will, in turn, ease demand on the grid in the evenings and hopefully bring bills down in the process.

Where is the Solar Sharer Offer available?

It's available to households in NSW, South East QLD or South Australia - the regions where the AER's Default Market Offer (DMO) applies.

The DMO is a benchmark price that caps what electricity retailers can charge customers on standing offer plans.

Around 10% of households are on these plans, while most are on market offers, where retailers set their own prices and discounts.

Good to know: Victoria is getting its own version - the Midday Power Saver - launching 1 October 2026. The federal government has said it's considering making the Solar Sharer Offer available in other areas, but there's no firm announcement yet.

Am I eligible to get 3 hours of free electricity every day?

Any electricity retailer with more than 1,000 customers in the eligible regions must offer the Solar Sharer Offer (SSO).

But you won't be switched automatically. You'll need to opt in if you want to access the 3 hours of free electricity each day.

Whether you own or rent, your home will also need a smart meter. If you don't already have one, your retailer can usually arrange an installation at no extra cost.

The offer isn't available to everyone. Small businesses and households in embedded networks aren't eligible.

Embedded networks are common in some apartment buildings, retirement villages and caravan parks.

In this case, residents receive electricity through a shared private network rather than having a direct account with an electricity retailer.

When are the free electricity hours?

It depends on where you live:

For NSW and South East QLD, it's 11am to 2pm AEST.

For South Australia, it's 12pm to 3pm ACST.

Is the Solar Sharer Offer actually worth it?

We've added all the rates at the end of the guide (jump straight to them if you want), but the tl;dr is peak usage rates on the SSO are steep, up to 63.72 cents per kWh.

The supply charges are high, too. That's the daily fee you pay for staying connected to the grid.

That's the trade-off you need to weigh up before switching.

If you can't shift much of your usage into the free window, those higher peak rates will cost you more than the free midday power saves you.

Off-peak rates are more favourable, though how much time you actually get in that window depends on which state you're in and your distributor.

Independent consumer advocate Energy Consumers Australia has modelled this for a typical Ausgrid customer in NSW.

• Shift 30% of usage to the free period, with 40% still falling in peak hours, and you could end up about $320 worse off compared to a competitive flat-rate plan.
• Shift that same 30% to the free window with only 20% in peak hours, and you'd be about $210 better off.

The AER acknowledges the offer won't suit everyone.

Retailers are required to inform customers that Solar Sharer might not be right for them before signing them up, and cannot put anyone on it without their consent.

If you're out during the day and your electricity use peaks in the evening, a standard market offer is likely the better deal.

How do I sign up?

Contact your current energy retailer by phone, online or via their app and ask to switch to the Solar Sharer Offer.

There's no lock-in contract and no cost to switch, and you can always go back to a market offer if it's not working for you.

But before you do, it's worth comparing energy plans to see if you can find a cheaper offer that better suits your household's energy use.

What are the Solar Sharer Offer rates?

Here's a state-by-state breakdown. For NSW specifically, the rates will vary based on your electricity distributor.

NSW (Ausgrid)

NSW (Endeavour)

NSW (Essential Energy)

South East QLD

South Australia