Solar Sharer: free daytime power, real system benefits
When governments say “free electricity,” investors check the footnotes. This time, the Solar Sharer initiative inside the 2025 Default Market Offer (DMO) reforms (1) has substance. As widely reported, from 1 July 2026, retailers in New South Wales, South East Queensland and South Australia must offer households a regulated standing tariff that includes at least three hours of zero-cost daytime power. Other regions may follow from 2027, subject to consultation. The policy is designed to share the benefits of Australia’s solar glut, reduce bills for those who can shift usage, and smooth the grid’s midday trough.
What the offer is
As part of the DMO, Solar Sharer is a residential time-of-use standing offer with a free-power window in the middle of the day. It targets the period when wholesale prices are regularly very low or negative because rooftop solar floods the system. Customers with smart meters, which now cover the majority of homes, can run hot-water systems, washers, dishwashers, pool pumps, air conditioning pre-cooling and EV charging during the free window. The Department’s review explains the intent clearly, including the goal to “bring on greater load in the middle of the day” and improve system security while lowering bills for households that can shift demand. DMO jurisdictions begin in 2026, with consultation on national availability from 2027.
What it hopes to achieve
The reform aims to do four things. First, protect disengaged customers by embedding value inside the standing offer rather than relying on complex discounts. Second, shift consumption away from the early evening peak and towards the sunny middle of the day, which reduces wholesale volatility and the need for network upgrades. Third, extend tangible benefits to people who do not own panels, especially renters and apartment residents. (2) Fourth, normalise smarter retail products that reward flexibility, which in turn supports higher levels of consumer energy resources across the system.
Minister Chris Bowen has framed the offer as a pocket and planet policy. If more households move usage into the zero-cost window, they save directly, and the grid benefits from flatter demand. Media reporting highlights that Australia has more than four million rooftop systems, so using more power when the sun is abundant is simply good housekeeping for the grid.
Winners
Households with flexible routines are obvious winners. Using free daytime power for heating water, cooling homes before the evening peak, and charging EVs can add up to meaningful annual savings. Consumer groups point to hundreds of dollars a year for typical households that shift. Clean energy bodies expect broader system savings as daytime demand rises to meet midday supply, which can trim risk premiums in retail pricing over time. (3)
Renters and apartment dwellers finally get a direct path to solar value without needing to own a roof. This is a policy lever that improves equity, a point stressed by advocates.
Investors win where flexibility meets hardware and software. Smart appliances, orchestration platforms, EV chargers with scheduled control, home batteries, and virtual-power-plant services all gain from price signals that reward daytime load. Advisory voices argue the policy will force large retailers and networks to upgrade systems, which accelerates tariff reform and opens doors for innovators across demand response, behind-the-meter analytics and DER aggregation.
Losers and friction points
Large retailers are wary. Their industry body criticised the lack of pre-announcement consultation and warned of unintended consequences, including possible market exits. The practical issue is alignment between the free-power window and underlying network tariffs. If network charges are not configured to support the daytime window, retailers must recover costs elsewhere, which risks blunting the consumer benefit. Expect pressure for tariff reform at the network level to support the retail obligation.
Another friction point is capability. To get the most from Solar Sharer, households benefit from controllable loads or an EV. Without simple automation, many consumers will only partially capture the gains. That is why several commentators call for complementary measures, such as minimum appliance standards that support scheduling, expanded support for home batteries and smart EV chargers, and targeted advice programmes that help households use the offer effectively.
Finally, there is a communications challenge. The DMO is also being refocused so that it reflects efficient costs for an essential service. Making the Solar Sharer work without confusion requires clear bill messaging, better use of actual consumption data in comparisons, and accessible tools that show households how to shift and save.
The real reason it is possible
This reform is feasible because midday supply has outrun midday demand. On sunny days, wholesale prices are often negligible or negative, and large-scale generators face curtailment. Giving energy away during those hours is not a giveaway, it is a grid-balancing tool that lowers risk and improves utilisation. It is the modern successor to the old off-peak hot-water schemes that once ran at night for coal plants. Now the new off-peak is midday, driven by millions of rooftops.
By mandating a free-power window inside the standing offer, government converts an oversupply challenge into a consumer dividend and a system stabiliser. If usage shifts as intended, retailers’ hedging costs can fall, minimum demand can lift, and networks can host more solar exports without breaching limits. That creates a virtuous circle, where more flexible demand enables more renewables, which further supports low daytime prices.
Investor takeaway
For environmental investors, Solar Sharer is a demand-side signal baked into regulation. It favours businesses that electrify loads and control them intelligently. Think smart hot-water controllers, orchestration software, EV charging platforms, and home storage tied to retail tariffs. It also nudges retailers toward product partnerships with technology providers, because the easy way to help customers capture the free window is to automate it.
The policy also aligns with the DMO’s broader reset. By removing headroom for competition allowances and focusing on efficient costs, the regulator is pushing the market towards simpler, fairer standing offers and clearer comparisons for market offers. That clarity reduces noise for consumers and improves the investment case for firms that deliver measurable, flexible demand at scale.
The Bottom Line
Solar Sharer turns sunshine into a scheduling incentive. Households save when they shift, the grid runs flatter, and investors get tailwinds across flexible demand, smart electrification and retail innovation. The headline might be “free power,” yet the real story is better timing. Align usage with the sun and both bills and risk come down.
References
Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water, “Review Outcomes: 2025 reforms to the Default Market Offer,” 4 November 2025. https://www.energy.gov.au/news/have-your-say-default-market-offer-reform-solar-sharer-offer
A Morton, The Guardian, “Australians to get at least three hours a day of free solar power,” 3 November 2025. https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2025/nov/03/australians-to-get-at-least-three-hours-a-day-of-free-solar-power-even-if-they-dont-have-solar-panels
S Vorrath, RenewEconomy, “Practical, equitable, cute? Labor’s free solar plan sparks call for more electrification, and flexibility,” 4 November 2025. https://reneweconomy.com.au/practical-equitable-cute-labors-free-solar-plan-sparks-call-for-more-electrification-and-flexibility/
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