From 1 July 2026, households in NSW, South East Queensland and South Australia will have access to the new Solar Sharer Offer (SSO), a regulated electricity plan that includes 3 hours of free power every day.
Everyone loves free, but there’s a catch. Free electricity plans aren’t automatically cheaper.
Can the new Solar Sharer Offer cut your power bill?
Whether the Solar Sharer Offer saves you money depends on how much energy you can shift into the free period. For some households, the savings could be significant. For many, a regular market offer is likely to be the better choice.
Here’s everything you need to know about the Solar Sharer Offer, who it’s likely to suit, and how to decide whether it’s worth switching.
Free plans go mainstream in 2026
WATTever has tracked and compared free plans for a number of years, including everyday offers with zero-cost periods of power to exclusive plans for EV and battery owners. However, many people still don’t know about these offers. Solar Sharer means a huge number of residential customer will now have a free plan easily available to them.
What is the Solar Sharer Offer?
From 1 July 2026, electricity retailers with more than 1,000 customers must offer eligible households a regulated plan with three hours of free electricity each day.
The free period applies at different times depending on where you live:
- NSW and South East Queensland (Energex): 11am to 2pm
- South Australia: 12pm to 3pm
The Solar Sharer Offer is optional. You don’t have to take it.
You’ll need a smart meter because the plan uses time-of-use pricing. If you don’t already have one, your retailer can arrange installation of a new meter at no cost.
Why was the Solar Sharer Offer created?
Australia now produces huge amounts of solar energy in the middle of the day. In fact, there is often more solar generation available than households and businesses are using.
Rather than wasting that energy, governments and regulators want people to use more electricity when solar supply is abundant.
That’s why the message is simple: use more power during the day and pay less.
If enough households shift their electricity use into the middle of the day, it could help:
- Make better use of renewable energy.
- Reduce pressure on the grid in the evening.
- Lower peak demand.
- Help keep electricity costs down over time.
What’s the catch?
The free electricity is real. But there is a trade-off.
Households on the Solar Sharer Offer can receive up to 24kWh of free electricity each day. That’s enough to cover the daily usage of the average 5-person home.
The big trade-off with the SSO plan is that usage charges are even higher than with the default market offer. Plus, the fixed supply charge will be higher than market offers.
That means the Solar Sharer Offer only stacks up if you can move enough of your electricity use into the free window.
If you can’t, you will end up paying more.
That’s why the Solar Sharer Offer isn’t for everyone.
What are the SSO rates?
Here’s a rundown of the maximum regulated rates that will apply for customer choosing the Solar Share Offer from July 1, 2026 for the next 12 months. Retailers can charge less if they wish. We expect that some retailers will continue to offer free periods on selected market plans. So, it’s important to compare the best market offers to determine if you the Solar Sharer Offer is the best option for you.
Solar Sharer Offer Regulated prices for 2026-27
| Period | Rate (c/kWh) |
|---|---|
| Free Usage (11am-2pm) | 0 |
| Peak (3pm-9pm Nov-Mar & Jun-Aug) | 63.72 |
| Off Peak (All other times) | 27.56 |
| Daily Supply Charge | 176.41 c/day |
| Period | Rate (c/kWh) |
|---|---|
| Free Usage (11am-2pm) | 0 |
| Peak (4pm-8pm) | 48.74 |
| Shoulder (8pm-10am & 2pm-4pm) | 37.53 |
| Off Peak (10am-11am) | 14.18 |
| Daily Supply Charge | 185.13 c/day |
| Period | Rate (c/kWh) |
|---|---|
| Free Usage (11am-2pm) | 0 |
| Peak (3pm-10pm & 7am-10am) | 45.57 |
| Off Peak (All other times) | 27.59 |
| Daily Supply Charge | 272.22 c/day |
| Period | Rate (c/kWh) |
|---|---|
| Free Usage (Midday-3pm) | 0 |
| Peak (6am-10am & 4pm-Midnight) | 58.84 |
| Shoulder (Midnight-6am) | 35.17 |
| Off Peak (10am-Midday & 3pm-4pm) | 19.66 |
| Daily Supply Charge | 180.05 c/day |
| Period | Rate (c/kWh) |
|---|---|
| Free Usage (Midday-3pm) | 0 |
| Peak (6am-10am & 4pm-Midnight) | 58.84 |
| Shoulder (Midnight-6am) | 35.17 |
| Off Peak (10am-Midday & 3pm-4pm) | 19.66 |
| Daily Supply Charge | 180.05 c/day |
The key question: Can you shift your energy use?
This is where the savings come from.
The Solar Sharer Offer rewards households that can move electricity use from expensive periods into the free period.
As a rule of thumb, we think households should aim to get:
- At least 20% of their electricity use in the free window.
- Better still, target 30% or more of energy use in the free period.
The more power you shift, the better the opportunity to save. Here are the savings for each network based on the benchmark household usage and consumption profile.
SSO “Shift & Save” opportunities by network
| Network | Benchmark free period usage | Reach 20% usage in Free period* | Reach 30% usage in Free period** |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ausgrid: 10.7kWh/day | 13% in free period. No saving on DMO | 9% saving on DMO | 19% saving on DMO |
| Endeavour: 13.4kWh/day | 13% in free period. No saving on DMO | 8% saving on DMO | 19% saving on DMO |
| Essential: 12.6kWh/day | 12% in free period. No saving on DMO | 6% saving on DMO | 13% saving on DMO |
| Energex (SE QLD): 12.6kWh/day | 14% in free period. No saving on DMO | 9% saving on DMO | 18% saving on DMO |
| SA Power: 11kWh/day | 13% in free period. No saving on DMO | 12% saving on DMO | 20% saving on DMO |
*In the “20% usage in Free period” scenario we shift peak electricity use into the free period. **In the “30% Use in Free” scenario, in addition to 20% scenario, we shift a further 10% of energy use into the free period split equally between peak and the next most expensive period. AER half-hourly residential electricity consumption benchmarks for 2026 applied.
Who is likely to benefit?
The households most likely to do well on the Solar Sharer Offer are those that can schedule appliances or have someone home during the day.
That includes households with:
- Electric hot water systems.
- Big heating and cooling needs.
- Regular appliance use.
- Home batteries.
- Electric vehicles.
Let’s look at the range of households and consider how the SSO is likely to work out.
- Grid Only home
- Solar Home
- Battery Home
- EV Home
Grid-only homes
Many households have opportunities to shift energy use. Here are the things to move.
Hot water can be the largest electricity use in the home.
Moving electric hot water into the free period can deliver meaningful savings. In many cases, the cost of installing a timer can pay for itself in the first year. For example, if you shift an ‘element’ hot water unit (costing say 15c/kWh on a Controlled Load circuit x 6kWh/day) to run in the free period on the main circuit, the one-off cost of the timer and electrician (circa $300) would be covered by the first-year savings. Hot water is free after that. Or, if you have a heat pump hot water system, simply schedule it to run in the free window.
Heating and cooling is another big energy-use that can be shifted. For (reverse cycle) air conditioners and heaters set a timer. Turn them up to 11! By pre-heating or pre-cooling, you can enjoy the benefits into the evening and reduce or eliminate the need to heat or cool at expensive peak times. Even old-school power-hungry oil heaters on a timer can do a good job in three hours!
Bigger homes could get better results.
Typically, large households are more likely to have a wider range of appliances and use them more often. Consequently, they have more opportunities to time-shift their energy use. Everything from pool pumps to large air-conditioning systems, big hot-water units, and more that can be scheduled.
Secondly, for households that use more energy, the fixed daily costs make up a smaller portion of their bill. This matters because the Supply rates on the SSO plan are higher than market offers. The opportunity with the Solar Sharer Offer is to reduce the effective per kWh cost. Usage rates have a greater impact on large energy users’ bills.
When it probably won’t work.
It’s not surprising that if your household is empty during the day and you don’t have appliances that can be scheduled, the Solar Sharer Offer is unlikely to be a good option. A competitive market offer will provide cheaper energy.
However, if things change in the future, such as adding an EV or battery to the household, they could well benefit from the SSO. Don’t rule out this plan being an opportunity at another time.
What about solar homes?
If you already have solar, you already have access to very low cost daytime power. Solar households typically shift their energy use into the middle of the day. So, for many homes with medium or large solar systems that are currently exporting their solar, it makes more sense to use their own solar first, rather than pay higher electricity rates outside the free period. As an additional consideration, retailers’ SSO plans likely won’t offer a solar feed-in tariff during the free period.
However, the Solar Sharer Offer could be useful if:
- You have a small solar system.
- Your panels are shaded.
- Winter generation falls short (typically half of summer!)
- You need extra daytime energy.
Some households may choose to switch to the Solar Sharer Offer during Winter and move back to a market plan in Spring.
Battery homes
Battery owners could be among the biggest winners.
The SSO enables a home battery without solar to use free electricity to charge every day. Meaning households without solar access could add storage. (Note: Solar is a requirement to access the Cheaper Batteries rebate)
For battery owner with rooftop PV, if there is a shortfall in solar filling the battery each day (small solar/big battery), or if there is seasonality (winter!), free plans will enable a scheduled top-up to the battery.
Don’t rule out a tactical shift to the SSO over winter – one call to your current retailer could ensure you’ve got the benefit of cheap power to fill your battery, no matter what the weather is. A number of battery and general plans now include free or lower-cost daytime windows that are perfect for battery top-ups. So, it’s worth reviewing some of the extra benefits and pricing available on market offers.
EV homes
Electric vehicles and free daytime electricity are a perfect match.
Charging an EV at home can use a lot of energy. If your car is parked at home during the day, the Solar Sharer Offer could easily provide 20,000 kilometres of driving every year by charging from the three free hours each day (that’s 3200kWh/pa for literally $0!).
The SSO offer is similar in structure to a number of popular EV plans that feature low/no-cost daytime charging. It’s not uncommon for WATTever to see half the electricity usage on an EV owner’s bill at no cost!
You are free to give it a go.
One challenge with the Solar Sharer Offer is knowing upfront how it will work for your place.
Your old bill only tells you how you’ve used electricity in the past. Same with the meter data! The savings come from changing what you do in the future. Only you know what could be shifted at your place.
If you recognise that your place has you feel you might benefit from the SSO, it’s easy to try it out. All it takes is a call or message to your retailer requesting the plan switch. You can jump back to a market offer at any stage. There’s no cost and no lock-in contract!
Take the 30-day challenge.
Households could treat the SSO as a 30-day challenge. With the monthly bill, you can chart your progress.
Decide what appliances you can shift. Make the move. If your retailer has an app that shows your energy usage, it could provide some extra feedback. Ultimately, you can compare your next bill with previous ones to track your results. Over time, households often find more opportunities to move their energy use and improve their savings.
Need help working out if Solar Sharer stacks up?
The real opportunity with free power isn’t what you’ve done in the past. It’s what you could do next. You can use WATTever’s comparison to model how much electricity you think you can shift into the free period and see whether the Solar Sharer Offer might save you money. To do this in WATTever’s personalised comparison, select “I have an EV” – this enables a user input for super off-peak (aka free period) energy use. We suggest re-allocating 20-30% of your existing energy use to the free period. Reduce the off-peak and peak periods equally. This accounts for a household’s existing daytime use (typically 13% of benchmark electricity consumption) which is likely to occur during the free period. So, it’s important to factor that around half of the energy use is coming from the existing off-peak period.o