Solar Sharer is here, offering free power to all. Will it level the playing field, or benefit batteries most?

The federal government has pitched the new Solar Sharer scheme as a way for renters and households without rooftop solar to finally share in Australia’s clean energy boom.

But the people most likely to embrace the scheme – and benefit the most from it – is likely to be those who already own some of the most expensive pieces of clean energy technology: home batteries, rooftop solar and electric vehicles.

Ronald Brakels from SolarQuotes argues it may also be exactly what Australia’s electricity grid needs.

From this week, every major electricity retailer in New South Wales, South Australia and south-east Queensland must offer eligible households three hours of free electricity in the middle of the day. Households with a smart meter can opt in and receive up to 24 kWh of free electricity during a fixed three-hour window—11am to 2pm in NSW and south-east Queensland, and midday to 3pm in South Australia.

The policy has been introduced because Australia has become extraordinarily successful at producing rooftop solar.

There is now so much solar generation around midday that electricity prices can collapse, and in South Australia, where renewables can already supply all of the state’s electricity demand at times, large-scale solar farms are regularly switched off because rooftop solar is already producing more electricity than the grid can absorb.

“We’re getting more and more electricity generated in the middle of the day when electricity consumption is low, so the idea is to get people to use it when it’s being produced,” Brakels told the SwitchedOn Australia podcast.

The government’s solution is simple: make electricity free when there’s too much of it.

Solar Sharer has been presented as a way to spread the benefits of Australia’s rooftop solar beyond homeowners, particularly to renters and apartment residents who don’t have solar.

But Brakels sees something much bigger. He believes Solar Sharer doesn’t really come into its own until it is paired with the Federal Government’s Cheaper Home Batteries Program.

Rather than relying solely on rooftop solar to charge a battery, households with a battery will be able to fill it with free grid electricity during the middle of the day and then use that stored energy through the evening peak, when electricity is most expensive and the grid is under greatest strain.

For households that already have rooftop solar, the opportunity is even greater.

Instead of using their own solar to charge the battery, they could charge the battery from the grid during the free period while simultaneously using their rooftop solar to charge an EV, heat water or run other household appliances. In effect, make use of both energy streams at once.

“They’ll charge it for free in the middle of the day, and then the battery will be full early in the afternoon every day,” Brakels says. “Once you have more people using their own battery power in the evening, the demand for grid electricity drops.”

That, he argues, is where the real value of Solar Sharer lies, not just in giving away free electricity, but creating a predictable reduction in evening peak demand.

“If we didn’t have people topping up their battery during free periods, then we wouldn’t have a reliable reduction in the peak energy period, which is what lets us shut down coal power stations.”

Renters and households without batteries can still benefit from Solar Sharer schemes, but Brakels says those households need to look carefully before signing up.

“It basically comes down to, are you able to shift electricity consumption to the middle of the day.”

That could prove difficult for many renters who don’t work from home during the free period, and can’t get their heads around timers, or who live in poorly insulated homes that makes it impractical to pre-heat or pre-cool the house during the day in the hope of reducing evening electricity use.

“If you’re renting, you don’t have solar or a battery, think carefully.”

The bigger trap may lie elsewhere. While the electricity during the three-hour window is free, retailers can recover the costs of offering free electricity through the rest of the tariff.

Brakels says customers should pay particular attention to daily supply charges, which could increase substantially, as well as evening rates.

“The government has said… electricity retailers can charge more at other periods to make up for it.”

His advice is to compare the entire plan—not just the promise of free electricity: “You should check to see if there isn’t a better plan without a free period, but lower rates elsewhere.”

But that exposes another weakness.

Electricity tariffs are already notoriously difficult to compare, and relatively few Australians regularly switch retailers. The ACCC found only around one in five households actively changes retailer to obtain a better deal. Solar Sharer will just add yet another layer of complexity to “shopping around.”

Even so, Brakels is optimistic about the Solar Sharer scheme. He believes battery owners will drive strong uptake because the economics are compelling, particularly when combined with the federal battery rebate.

More importantly, he argues that could deliver exactly the outcome the government needs. Whilst Solar Sharer has been promoted as a way to help people without solar, if it gets enough households to charge their batteries during the middle of the day and discharge them through the evening peak, Brakels believes it could turn out to be far more than a free electricity offer. 

You can hear the full interview with Ronald Brakels on the SwitchedOn Australia podcast here.