What time is the Solar Sharer free window in South Australia?

12pm to 3pm — an hour later than the 11am to 2pm block used in New South Wales and south-east Queensland. The 24 kWh daily reasonable-use cap and the smart-meter and opt-in requirements are the same. If you have moved from another state, do not assume the hours carried over.

What is the Solar Sharer offer and when does it start?

The Solar Sharer offer is an Australian Government reform that, from 1 July 2026, requires larger electricity retailers in New South Wales, South-East Queensland and South Australia to offer at least one residential plan with a free block of electricity in the middle of the day — around three hours, capped at 24 kWh a day. It was introduced through amendments to the Electricity Retail Code, sitting alongside the Australian Energy Regulator's Default Market Offer, with the rules finalised in early March 2026. The free window is set at roughly 11am to 2pm in NSW and South-East Queensland and 12pm to 3pm in South Australia. Because start dates, regions, hours and the cap can change, confirm the current terms at aer.gov.au or dcceew.gov.au before relying on any figure.

Who is eligible for the Solar Sharer free power window?

It is deliberately broad. You do not need rooftop solar, and it is open to renters as well as owner-occupiers — the whole point is to share cheap midday solar with people who can't put panels on their own roof. What you do need is a smart meter and to opt in by choosing an eligible plan from a participating retailer; it is not applied automatically. The obligation to offer a plan falls on larger retailers in the three regions, so a very small retailer may not have one. Check your own retailer and confirm current eligibility at aer.gov.au, as details can change.

Is the Solar Sharer offer actually free, or is there a catch?

The midday energy itself is genuinely free within the cap — but the plan around it is not a giveaway. A retailer still has to recover its costs, and it typically does that elsewhere on the same plan: higher peak-rate usage charges, higher shoulder rates, or a higher daily supply charge. So an eligible plan is not automatically cheaper than your current one — it is a different shape. Whether you come out ahead depends entirely on whether you can move enough of your usage into the free window to outweigh the higher charges the rest of the day. For a house that's empty from 9 to 5, that can be hard, and the plan can quietly cost more than it saves.

Who does the Solar Sharer offer actually help?

Homes that already use — or can easily shift — a real chunk of power in the middle of the day. Think someone home during the day, a retiree household, shift workers, or anyone who can run the dishwasher, washing machine, pool pump, hot-water heating or an EV charge in the free window on a timer. Renters and non-solar homes are included, which is a genuine plus for people who've been locked out of rooftop solar. It helps least a household that leaves an empty house all day and does everything in the evening peak — for them the free window sits unused while the higher peak and supply charges do the work.

Should I switch to a Solar Sharer plan?

Only after you check your own usage — don't switch on the headline. Look at your smart-meter data or bill to see how much power you already use, or realistically could shift, into the free midday window, then compare a specific eligible plan's peak, shoulder and supply charges against your current plan across a whole bill, not just the free hours. If you can load a lot into the middle of the day, it can be a real saving; if your life runs in the evening, staying put — or a different time-of-use or flat plan — may cost less. Sometimes the honest answer is don't switch. Use an independent comparison and your real numbers, not the retailer's example household.

Which retailers are offering a Solar Sharer plan?

At the July 2026 launch, Origin, Red Energy, Engie, Dodo, Sumo and AGL had eligible plans in market across NSW, South-East Queensland and South Australia, with GloBird also running its own free-daytime offer and Ergon Energy offering one in Queensland via Tariff 12F. EnergyAustralia did not have a compliant offer in market on 1 July and delayed its launch. Alinta and ActewAGL were not offering a three-hour free window. The more useful question than who offers it is what they changed in exchange — several retailers raised the fixed daily supply charge sharply, with Origin's reported to have roughly doubled and Red Energy's rising from about 122c to about 185c a day. Retail pricing changes constantly, so check a specific plan for your postcode on the AER's Energy Made Easy site rather than relying on any list.

Does Victoria get the Solar Sharer offer?

No. Victoria is not part of the Solar Sharer offer, because Solar Sharer was delivered through the Electricity Retail Code under the Australian Energy Regulator's Default Market Offer, and Victoria runs its own retail framework under the Victorian Default Offer, regulated by the Essential Services Commission. Victoria legislated its own equivalent instead: the Victorian Midday Power Saver, available from 1 October 2026, with a free window of 11am to 2pm every day including weekends and a reported 24 kWh fair-use cap. Around 2.6 million Victorian households are expected to be eligible. As with Solar Sharer you need a smart meter, you must opt in, and you do not need solar or to own your home — and the Victorian Government states directly that prices outside the free window will be higher, so households that cannot shift usage could pay more than before.

Do I need solar or a battery to benefit from Solar Sharer?

No — that's the design. The offer exists precisely to share midday solar with homes that don't have their own panels, so renters and non-solar households can benefit purely by shifting usage into the free window with timers and habits. Solar and a battery aren't required and aren't the point of this reform. That said, if you already have solar you may find your own self-consumption is worth more than the free window, and if you have a battery the two need to be weighed together rather than assumed to stack — the best plan for a solar-and-battery home is often not a Solar Sharer plan at all.

Solar Sharer in South Australia

Free power in South Australia: an hour later than everywhere else, and for a reason.

Solar Sharer has been live since 1 July 2026. In South Australia the free block runs 12pm–3pm, capped at 24 kWh a day. You need a smart meter, you have to opt in, and the obligation lands on larger retailers. Below: why it exists here, who it genuinely helps, and the households it quietly costs.

Written by Juan Flinn, Content Editor · Reviewed by the Mission Green Energy Team · Updated September 2026

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The mechanics, briefly

Free from midday, not from 11am.

The obligation has applied since 1 July 2026, and in South Australia the free block runs from midday rather than 11am: roughly three hours, capped at 24 kWh a day. If you have read about this scheme anywhere else, the hours you saw were probably the eastern ones. Set your timers to the South Australian window or you will miss the first hour of it.

The rules are the same everywhere it applies: a smart meter, an active opt-in, and an obligation that lands only on larger retailers. Rates outside the window may be higher, which is how the offer pays for itself. The full scheme and the retailer comparison →

Why here

Why South Australia’s window is an hour later.

This is the detail that catches people moving between states, and the one worth getting right: in New South Wales and south-east Queensland the free block runs 11am to 2pm. In South Australia it runs 12pm to 3pm. Same scheme, same 24 kWh cap, an hour later on the clock.

South Australia has the highest rooftop solar penetration in the world, and on a mild sunny day the state can approach meeting its entire demand from rooftops alone. The problem that creates is not a shortage, it is a surplus — too little load at the wrong moment. Shifting the free block an hour later targets the part of the afternoon where the grid most needs somebody to use the power.

If you already have solar

A later window changes which appliances can use it.

An hour matters more than it sounds. A 12pm to 3pm block sits closer to the school run and the end of the working day, which makes it slightly easier to catch in person — and it overlaps the hottest part of an Adelaide summer afternoon, when pre-cooling is worth the most.

It also sits later than the solar peak. A north-facing array is already past its best by 3pm, so in South Australia the free window and your own generation overlap less than they do in NSW — which, counter-intuitively, makes the free grid power slightly more useful to a household that already has solar.

The honest test

The South Australian test: the later window changes the answer.

Reset every timer you own. Hot water, pool pump and EV charger set to 11am on advice written for NSW will spend a third of their run outside the free block. Midday is the start here.

Weigh the afternoon heat properly. A midday to 3pm window covers the hottest part of an Adelaide summer afternoon, which makes pre-cooling worth more here than it is in the eastern states.

If you have solar, the overlap is smaller. A north-facing array is past its peak by 3pm, so free grid power and your own generation compete less, which makes the plan modestly more useful to a solar household than it is in NSW.

Check the supply charge. South Australian daily charges are among the highest in the country, and that is a common place for a free-window plan to recover its cost. Compare the whole bill on Energy Made Easy.

Questions

Solar Sharer in South Australia: common questions.

When did Solar Sharer start in South Australia?

1 July 2026. Larger retailers in the Default Market Offer regions have been required to offer at least one eligible residential plan since then. You are not moved onto one automatically — you have to opt in.

What are the Solar Sharer hours in South Australia?

12pm to 3pm, with a reasonable-use cap of 24 kWh a day. The free block is around three hours and applies every day.

Do I need solar panels to get Solar Sharer in South Australia?

No. You do not need rooftop solar and you do not need to own your home — renters and non-solar households are explicitly included. You do need a smart meter, because the free window is measured on half-hourly data, and you need to actively opt in.

Can Solar Sharer cost me money in South Australia?

It can. South Australian daily supply charges are among the highest in the country and that is a common place for a free-window plan to recover its cost. Check the fixed charge as carefully as the usage rate, and remember the free block starts at midday here: timers set for 11am will miss a third of it.