Australia is turning excess midday solar into a consumer benefit through free “solar sharer” electricity tariffs, enabling households to shift loads, charge batteries and EVs, and cut energy bills dramatically. With rooftop solar, storage, electrification, and smarter tariffs, Australia is showing how market innovation can integrate large amounts of renewable energy at low cost.
When there is excess daytime solar you can give it away for free instead of dumping it. This is the new solar sharer retail tariff available in Australia.
Families can absorb up to 24 kWh of free electricity per day between the hours of 11 am and 2 pm. This can be used to run heavy loads such as dishwashers, clothes washers, clothes dryers and water storage heaters. Houses can be heated or cooled, and home batteries and electric vehicles can be recharged. All this is available by scheduling timers on appliances.
The figure shows the solar sharer tariff offered by a large utility in Sydney. For most hours, electricity costs 19 US-cents per kWh, rising to 45 cents during evening peak hours. However, there are 3 hours in the middle of each day when electricity is free. There is also a fixed annual grid connection fee of $450.
