Australia to offer three hours free solar power daily to millions

Australia will offer at least three hours of free solar power every day to households including those without solar panels under an energy-saving programme that is expected to go live in 2026, energy minister Chris Bowen said on Tuesday.

The Solar Sharer programme will begin in the states of New South Wales and South Australia as well as southeast Queensland before it is expanded elsewhere.

Users will get the free solar power when generation capacity is highest in the middle of the day.

"People who are able to move electricity use into the zero-cost power period will benefit directly, whether they have solar panels or not and whether they own or rent, and the more people take up the offer and move their use, the greater the system benefits that lower costs for all electricity users will be," Bowen said.

The share prices of two of Australia’s largest electricity suppliers AGL and Origin Energy fell 3 per cent by late afternoon.

About four million households in Australia have rooftop solar panels on their homes and peak time sunny afternoons can supply so much power that electricity prices swing into the negative, while peak demand is often several hours later, putting strain on the grid.

Households, including apartment dwellers, will be able to access the programme even without their own solar panels.

In 2022, Bowen set a target of 82 per cent renewable electricity by 2030 in addition to the legislated target of a 43 per cent reduction in emissions over the levels in 2005.

Customers who choose the deal must have a smart meter and will only benefit if they shift their peak usage to the middle of day and run appliances and charge vehicles then.