For years, Australians have been installing them solar panels at a rapid clip. Now, that investment is paying off.
The Australian government announced this week that electricity customers in three states will get free electricity for up to three hours a day starting in July 2026.
Solar power has boomed in Australia in recent years. Roof solar installer $840 (US) per Kilowatt capacity before the rebate, about a third US State HouseSee rank-. As a result, more than one in three Australian houses have solar panels on their roofs.
“We are now at a level where we can share more of that power with more Australians,” Chris Bowen, Minister for Promotion and Energy, said in Instagram video announce the policy.
The Shardho Solar plan will be available to everyone in New South Wales, South Australia, and the South of Queensland to begin with; More RECHIONE was added later. Homes do not have to have solar on their roofs to qualify, although they do need Smart Meters installed. The plan would help people who live in apartments or don’t have a proper roof to get the income for the neighbor panel, Bowen said.
Although the government has not yet said which hours in the middle of the day would be eligible, the hours between 11 AM and 2 PM are the most likely candidates. Customers must opt for the new plan, which is intended to encourage people to move energy to take hours of solar production. Smart appliances can help people make the most of it by allowing them time when the evs are charging or there is a load of laundry.
Free electricity hours “help us with the grid also at night because it means using power from the night – if it is controlled with coal and until the middle is renewed,” said Bowen.
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The shift load will also reduce the need Grid Scale ProfitsAustralia that has been installed to absorb the needy solar power.
Australia’s plan is not the first to experiment with free electricity periods driven by renewable energy production peaks. Octopus Energy In the UK it has been offering a discount plan that occasionally gives customers free electricityalthough it doesn’t happen as regularly as in Australia.
In many places, solar has become very cheap electricity that is free for at least part of the day. Cloud peaks in solar production can cause electricity prices to go negative, which sometimes results in power providers paying customers to use energy for energy use.
Australia is generally considered a sunny country, Swathes Vast receive a lot of sun like US SouthwestSee rank-. But Mostly solar panels installed closer to the population center, which receives the most sunlight from the US or Southern Europesays that more solar power could drive down energy prices in many parts of the world.