3 hours of free electricity every day: Is the Solar Sharer Offer worth it?
Use our calculator to see if the Solar Sharer Offer could help lower your energy bills.
Free power from 11am–2pm. Find out if it's worth it for your household.
Answer a few quick questions to see an estimate of your yearly savings.
30 seconds · Free · No sign-up needed
Please choose your region first.
Is anyone usually home on weekdays during the free window (11am–2pm)?
This is when you'd need to run appliances to get power for free.
Could you run big appliances on timers or delay-start in that window?
Dishwasher, washing machine, dryer, pool pump. Even if you're not home.
Do you have an EV you could charge during the free window?
EV charging is the single biggest load most households can shift.
When is your household's electricity use heaviest?
Think cooking, cleaning, heating and cooling, TVs, showers.
What type of electricity plan are you on now?
It's on your bill. Time of use plans charge different rates at different times of day; single rate plans charge one rate all day.
Roughly what's your electricity bill?
A ballpark is fine. We'll use it to estimate how much power you get through.
$
Leave any field blank and we'll estimate it from your answers. Rates are on your latest bill.
Please enter a bill amount between $100 and $3,000.
Your estimate
$0 per year
About this estimate
Solar Sharer Offer
$0
estimated per quarter
Flat-rate market plan
$0
estimated per quarter
Important to know
How we worked this out
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 8% 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 SSO available in other areas, but there's no firm announcement yet.
When are the free electricity hours?
It depends on where you live:
For NSW and South East QLD, it's 11am to 2pm.
For South Australia, it's 12pm to 3pm.
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)
| Period | Rate |
|---|---|
| Free period (11am–2pm) | 0 cents per kWh |
| Peak (3pm–9pm, Nov–Mar and Jun–Aug only) | 63.72 cents per kWh |
| Off peak (all other times) | 27.56 cents per kWh |
| Daily supply charge | $1.76 per day |
NSW (Endeavour)
| Period | Rate |
|---|---|
| Free period (11am–2pm) | 0 cents per kWh |
| Peak (4pm–8pm, working weekdays only) | 48.75 cents per kWh |
| Off peak (2pm–4pm and 8pm–10am weekdays; 2pm–10am weekends and public holidays) | 37.53 cents per kWh |
| Solar soak (10am–11am) | 14.19 cents per kWh |
| Daily supply charge | $1.85 per day |
NSW (Essential Energy)
| Period | Rate |
|---|---|
| Free period (11am–2pm) | 0 cents per kWh |
| Peak (7am–10am and 3pm–10pm) | 45.57 cents per kWh |
| Off peak (10am–11am, 2pm–3pm and 10pm–7am) | 27.60 cents per kWh |
| Daily supply charge | $2.72 per day |
South East QLD (Energex)
| Period | Rate |
|---|---|
| Free period (11am–2pm) | 0 cents per kWh |
| Peak (4pm–9pm) | 48.90 cents per kWh |
| Shoulder (9pm–11am) | 26.41 cents per kWh |
| Off peak (2pm–4pm) | 8.10 cents per kWh |
| Daily supply charge | $1.78 per day |
South Australia (SAPN)
| Period | Rate |
|---|---|
| Free period (12pm–3pm) | 0 cents per kWh |
| Peak (6am–10am and 4pm–midnight) | 58.84 cents per kWh |
| Shoulder (midnight–6am) | 35.17 cents per kWh |
| Solar soak (10am–12pm and 3pm–4pm) | 19.66 cents per kWh |
| Daily supply charge | $1.80 per day |
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 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.
Is the Solar Sharer Offer actually worth it? How to use our calculator to find out
You can use our SSO calculator to check whether your household could benefit from the 3 hours of free electricity scheme.
All you have to do is answer a few questions like:
- Where you live
- Whether you're home during the free window period
- Whether you can run big appliances on a timer or delay the start in the free window
- Whether you have an EV that you can charge during that free window
- When your household's electricity use is the highest
- What type of electricity plan are you on now
- What your electricity bill is per quarter (you can also give exact rates)
We'll then give you a general idea of whether you'll be better off with or without the SSO.
Just keep in mind that these are general estimates only and not personal advice.
Here's some more context on the Solar Sharer Offer rates
As you saw from the tables earlier, the 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.
The AER acknowledges the offer won't suit everyone.
Retailers are required to inform customers that SSO 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 SSO.
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 switch, it's worth comparing energy plans to see if you can find a cheaper offer that better suits your household's energy use.
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