📋 In this guide:

• Solar Sharer Offer gives three free midday hours daily
• Sydney window 11am–2pm, Adelaide window 12pm–3pm
• Smart meter required, and joining is opt-in
• Evening prices decide whether you actually come out ahead
• Tesseract ZERO targets the evening problem, not just midday

Free electricity sounds like the kind of headline that falls apart when you read the fine print. The Solar Sharer Offer is real, though, and since 1 July 2026 it has been live in both Sydney and Adelaide. If you live in Sydney or Adelaide, your retailer now has to offer you at least one plan with three hours of free power in the middle of the day.

So should you switch? For some households it’s a genuine win. For others it quietly costs more. The difference comes down to one question: when does your home actually use its electricity?

This guide walks through how the Solar Sharer Offer works, who it suits, the catch worth checking before you sign up, and how it compares with generating and storing your own energy at home.

How the Solar Sharer Offer Works

The Solar Sharer Offer is a federal initiative that applies in the three Default Market Offer regions: New South Wales, South Australia and South East Queensland. From 1 July 2026, retailers in those regions must offer at least one residential plan with a daily block of free electricity.

The key details, as summarised by SolarQuotes from the regulator’s rules:

• Sydney (NSW): free power from 11am to 2pm
• Adelaide (SA): free power from 12pm to 3pm
• Daily cap: up to 24 kWh of free electricity per day
• Smart meter: required, because your retailer needs half-hourly usage data
• Opt-in: nobody is moved onto these plans automatically

Go over the cap and you simply pay your normal daytime rate for the extra. The logic is simple: rooftop solar floods the grid at midday, so midday power is cheap to supply.

The Catch: The Other 21 Hours

Three free hours don’t come out of nowhere. Retailers can recover the cost through higher peak rates, higher shoulder rates or higher daily supply charges on the same plan. The plans are meant to be designed so a typical household won’t pay more overall, but “typical” is doing a lot of work in that sentence.

Here’s the rule of thumb that consumer site SolarQuotes uses: you need to shift roughly 6 kWh of your daily use into the free window before the plan starts beating a standard one. That’s about a load of washing, a dishwasher cycle and a few hours of pool pump or air conditioning.

Picture a couple in Marrickville who both commute. The house sits empty from 8am to 6pm. Their free window passes while nobody is home, and their real usage lands between 6pm and 10pm, exactly when prices are highest. For them, a Solar Sharer plan could easily cost more than what they have now.

Now picture a family in Modbury with a parent working from home, a pool and a timer on the washing machine. They can push a big share of their day into 12pm to 3pm without changing much. That household is the one this scheme was built for.

Who Comes Out Ahead?

The Solar Sharer Offer tends to suit homes that can:

• Run appliances on timers (washing machine, dryer, dishwasher, pool pump)
• Pre-cool or pre-heat the house in the early afternoon
• Charge an electric vehicle at home during the day
• Charge a home battery during the free window and use it at night

That last point matters. The biggest winners are households that can store midday energy and use it after dark, because evening is where Australian power bills really hurt. Peak grid rates can reach up to 56¢ per kWh, and that’s the window a free midday block does nothing to fix on its own.

It tends not to suit homes that are empty all day or whose heavy usage is fixed in the evening.

Before You Switch: A Quick Checklist

Check the plan’s Basic Plan Information Document for:

1. Peak, shoulder and off-peak rates compared with your current plan
2. The daily supply charge, which is often where the cost moves
3. Your own usage by time of day, which most retailer apps show
4. Exit fees, in case you want to switch back

If most of your usage lands after 4pm, be cautious.

For a wider look at how grid electricity compares with generating your own, our guide to solar vs grid electricity covers the numbers.

How Is Tesseract ZERO Different?

The Solar Sharer Offer is a smarter way to buy grid electricity for three hours a day. Tesseract ZERO is a different model altogether, a third way between buying all your energy from the grid and buying a solar and battery system yourself. We install solar and battery technology at your home, we own it and we manage it. You pay a fixed 28¢ per kWh for the clean energy your home uses, fixed for the 10-year agreement term, with $0 upfront and no system to finance.

Because the energy is generated and stored at your home, it keeps working after 3pm, when the free window has closed and grid prices climb. Solar generated at home can cover up to 70% of a household’s daily energy, and you stay connected to the grid for the rest. You can read more about how it works on the Tesseract ZERO page.

FAQ

Is the Solar Sharer Offer available in Sydney and Adelaide?

Yes. Both NSW and South Australia are Default Market Offer regions, so since 1 July 2026 retailers there must offer at least one Solar Sharer plan. Sydney’s free window is 11am to 2pm, and Adelaide’s is 12pm to 3pm.

Do I need solar panels to get free power under the Solar Sharer Offer?

No. You need a smart meter and an eligible plan, not solar panels. The offer is designed so households without rooftop solar, including renters and apartment dwellers, can share in cheap midday energy.

Can I lose money on a Solar Sharer plan?

You can, if your usage is mostly in the evening and the plan charges more at peak times or through a higher supply charge. Compare the full rate card against your own usage pattern before switching.

Conclusion

The Solar Sharer Offer is a real benefit for households that can move their usage into the middle of the day. It’s worth a look if you work from home, run appliances on timers or can charge a battery or an electric vehicle at midday. If most of your power is used in the evening, the free window may not help, and the rest of the plan could cost you. Check your usage by time of day first, then compare plans line by line.

Curious how your home’s usage stacks up? Send us one power bill. No cost, no obligation — and if it isn’t a good fit, we’ll tell you. Get in touch here.