The federal government has pitched the new Solar Sharer scheme as a way for renters and households without rooftop solar to finally share in Australia’s clean energy boom.
But the people most likely to embrace the scheme – and benefit the most from it – is likely to be those who already own some of the most expensive pieces of clean energy technology: home batteries, rooftop solar and electric vehicles.
Ronald Brakels from SolarQuotes argues it may also be exactly what Australia’s electricity grid needs.
From this week, every major electricity retailer in New South Wales, South Australia and south-east Queensland must offer eligible households three hours of free electricity in the middle of the day. Households with a smart meter can opt in and receive up to 24 kWh of free electricity during a fixed three-hour window—11am to 2pm in NSW and south-east Queensland, and midday to 3pm in South Australia.
The policy has been introduced because Australia has become extraordinarily successful at producing rooftop solar.
