Australians to receive three hours of free electricity per day
In Australia, millions of photovoltaic systems generate electricity – so much that in the future, certain households will receive free electricity at noon.
Solar system on a house roof in Melbourne
(Image: Adam Calaitzis/ Shutterstockc.om)
Residents of three Australian states can rejoice: they will receive free electricity next year. The Australian government has decided this.
Solar Sharer is the name of the new energy offer, through which households receive free solar power, regardless of whether they have their own photovoltaic system. Solar Share obliges electricity suppliers to offer households at least three hours of free electricity, according to the Australian Ministry of Energy, "specifically around midday when solar power generation reaches its peak."
Solar Share will launch in July 2026, initially in the states of New South Wales, South Australia, and southeastern Queensland. It is planned to potentially expand to other states in 2027.
Over 4 million solar systems
At the end of June this year, there were according to the Australian Photovoltaic Institute 4.16 million photovoltaic systems in Australia. The total installed capacity was over 41.8 gigawatts. Last year, solar power accounted for according to the platform Open Electricity almost 20 percent of the country's electricity production.
A large proportion of the photovoltaic systems are installed on house roofs. Although coal-fired power plants still supplied more than half of the electricity in 2024 (53 percent), the solar power capacity installed on roofs nominally exceeds the capacity of the remaining coal-fired power plants. However, the former reliably supplied electricity around the clock, while the latter only did so when the sun was shining.
During the day, the solar systems feed so much electricity into the grid that more electricity is available on the energy market than can be consumed. This means that wholesale prices are then very low or even negative.
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Households are then supposed to use the abundantly available energy. The prerequisite for participating in Solar Sharer is that the household has an intelligent electricity meter, a smart meter, and can thus time-controlled operate the washing machine or dishwasher or charge the home or car battery.
(wpl)
