Australia's Solar Sharer Offer Begins: Three Free Midday Hours for Some Households
From 1 July 2026, retailers in New South Wales, South Australia and South East Queensland have to offer a plan with three free hours of electricity in the middle of the day. It is optional for households and needs a smart meter, and a home battery is one way to use it.
How the offer works
The Solar Sharer Offer sits inside Australia's Default Market Offer rules. According to the Australian Government's energy website, it applies in the three regions where the Default Market Offer operates, and retailers with more than 1,000 customers there must offer it. Households can choose whether to take it up.
The free period is three hours a day around midday, set by the Australian Energy Regulator for each area. Energy Matters reports 11am to 2pm in NSW and South East Queensland and noon to 3pm in South Australia; we have not checked those hours against a regulator page. Free use is capped at 24 kWh in the window, and usage above that may be charged at a rate the regulator sets.
Households need a smart meter, but rooftop solar is not required. The regulator says the plan is priced at the same annual price as the time-of-use Default Market Offer in each distribution zone.
What is not free
You still pay for electricity used outside the window and for the daily supply charge. The government page says savings depend on how much use you can move into the three hours, and that controlled-load hot water and pool pumps may not be able to shift. For a household that is out all day with nothing to move, the plan may save little or nothing.
The regulator also published its 2026 to 2027 default prices. For residential flat-rate plans it reports a fall of 3.4% to 5.0% in NSW and 7.2% in South East Queensland, and a rise of 1.4% in South Australia.
Where batteries fit
The government page lists charging a home battery among the high-priority uses to shift into the free window. In principle that works well: the battery fills with midday energy and supplies the evening. What the page does not explain is how battery charging interacts with the 24 kWh cap or the rates above it, so we would read a plan's terms before sizing a battery around it.
What it means outside Australia
The offer is specific to Australia and has no direct UK equivalent that we know of. The idea behind it is familiar, though: tariffs that price electricity by time of day reward flexible use and batteries. Our piece on how dynamic tariffs are changing the role of home batteries covers the UK side, and the Australia country guide has market background.
Sources
- Australian Government: Solar Sharer Offer
- Australian Energy Regulator: Default Market Offer prices 2026-27
- Energy Matters: Every solar, battery and EV incentive change from 1 July 2026
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