122
Australians to get at least three hours a day of free solar power – even if they don’t have solar panels
(www.theguardian.com)
this post was submitted on 16 Aug 2026
122 points (98.4% liked)
Technology
87183 readers
4170 users here now
This is a most excellent place for technology news and articles.
Our Rules
- Follow the lemmy.world rules.
- Only tech related news or articles.
- Be excellent to each other!
- Mod approved content bots can post up to 10 articles per day.
- Threads asking for personal tech support may be deleted.
- Politics threads may be removed.
- No memes allowed as posts, OK to post as comments.
- Only approved bots from the list below, this includes using AI responses and summaries. To ask if your bot can be added please contact a mod.
- Check for duplicates before posting, duplicates may be removed
- Accounts 7 days and younger will have their posts automatically removed.
Approved Bots
founded 3 years ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
No it's not. My bills went up by. 01 kwh and the daily up by 10c. Stop spreading misinformation.
No where in the country went up 300% you buffoon.
The peak and off-peak rates have been around for a very long time, it's nothing new.
This is a screenshot from the AER PDF on the solar sharer program, which you can find here https://www.aer.gov.au/system/files/2026-05/AER%20-%20Solar%20Sharer%20Offer%20fact%20sheet%20-%20DMO%208%20final%20determination.pdf
I'm in Queensland, so the Energex rates apply. The base tariff rate is 26c until 11am, then free for 3 hours. Then 8c for 2 hours and then 49c between 4 and 9pm. My memory was off, and it's only double the rate, but my point still stands. The peak time is a lot more expensive on the solar sharer plan, so you need to do the maths and make sure your usage will be shifted towards the free period and away from the peak, because if your highest usage is in the peak period and you don't mitigate that, you could end up paying more on the solar sharer plan. You can absolutely save money on the SSO, and we use it for that reason, but you can also end up out of pocket.
Also keep an eye on those Supply Charges, they add up. For reference, my origin (non-solar) is $1.42 and I've been watching it ratcheting up for the last decade. 2.72 - 1.42 = 1.3 * 90 days is $117 difference.
Basically, Gov says make it free, power companies say OK, move shit around so they're making the same or more. The only way a consumer wins is if they have a large battery (Home or EV) they can charge at home during the period and use enough power, everyone else loses.