The government has announced Solar Sharer, a new scheme giving NSW, SEQ and SA households three hours of free electricity every day around midday, starting 1 July 2026.
Free power. Who's going to say no to that?
If you're on Amber, though, it's worth understanding what Solar Sharer is before you start making plans. The headline doesn't always tell the whole story.
Here's how Solar Sharer works
Solar Sharer is a government initiative for households with smart meters in eligible regions. During a set three-hour window around midday, when solar generation peaks and wholesale prices can drop to zero or go negative, you pay nothing for electricity.
Sounds simple. A few things to know:
There's a 24 kWh cap on free usage during that window. It's designed to keep the scheme fair and sustainable - sized around the average needs of a five-person household.
Retailers offering Solar Sharer need to recover their costs somewhere, so rates outside the free window may be higher than a standard flat tariff. The Australian Energy Regulator (AER) oversees the scheme and is specifically working to prevent retailers from inflating off-peak rates, but it's worth checking the fine print of any plan carefully.
It's only available in some regions, where there's high solar penetration and the right smart meter setup.
Structurally, Solar Sharer sits under the Default Market Offer (DMO) framework as a time of use standing offer tariff. Think of it like a standing offer with a twist.
The catch for battery owners
Here's something worth knowing if you have a battery, or you're thinking about getting one.
Retailers offering free midday power need to recover those costs somewhere. That may mean either higher off-peak usage rates, lower feed-in tariffs, or both - so it's worth reading the fine print carefully before switching.
That matters a lot if you have a battery. The whole point of a battery is to charge up when energy is cheap, then export when prices are high, typically in the evening when solar drops off and demand rises. If your retailer is paying you nothing for those exports, a big chunk of your battery's value disappears.
Who Solar Sharer is genuinely great for
Before we explain why it doesn't change much for Amber customers, it's worth saying this clearly: Solar Sharer is a genuinely good initiative for a lot of households.
If you're renting, in an apartment, or simply don't have rooftop solar, you've historically had no way to benefit from Australia's solar boom. Solar Sharer changes that. You get access to cheap midday power without needing panels, a battery, or any technical setup. For households who want predictability and simplicity, it's a meaningful improvement on the status quo.
What does this mean for you?
Honestly? Not much. And we mean that in the best possible way.
Your wholesale plan isn’t affected by Solar Sharer. If you ever did want access to it, we could set that up separately and handle the billing without any major changes on our end. But we don't expect many Amber customers to go looking for it.
Here's why.
Solar Sharer solves a problem you may not have
During that midday window when Solar Sharer offers free electricity? On Amber, wholesale prices can be near zero or negative - particularly in spring and summer when solar generation peaks. You're not waiting for a designated free period. You're seeing real prices every 30 minutes, and using that information to make smarter decisions all day long.
Run the washing machine when solar floods the grid. Charge your EV when prices dip below zero. If you've got a battery, SmartShift buys cheap power automatically and sells it back when prices spike. That's not a capped government scheme. That's just how Amber works, every day.
On Amber, you keep earning the real wholesale price when you export, including during those high-price evening periods when prices can spike. So it's worth checking what any Solar Sharer plan pays you for evening exports before switching. For battery owners using SmartShift, that's worth factoring in.
Don't have a battery yet? Solar customers on Amber also benefit during those same midday hours, earning real wholesale feed-in rates for what you export rather than a fixed tariff set by someone else.
Solar Sharer is a genuinely good option for households who want simple, set-and-forget predictability. But if you chose Amber, you chose something more flexible than a fixed free window. You chose to engage with the energy market.
The bottom line
We think Solar Sharer is a step in the right direction. Anything that gets households using more solar at the right times is good for the grid, and good for the energy transition we're all trying to get to.
For Amber customers, nothing changes. You've already got access to real wholesale prices around the clock. That's not a three-hour window. That's the whole day.
Got a battery sitting idle at midday? That's money left on the table. See what SmartShift can do for you at amber.com.au.
