Free midday power with a battery
Verified 16 October 2026
Some electricity plans give you free power for three hours in the middle of the day. For a home with a battery, that sounds like a perfect match. Sometimes it is. Sometimes the rates outside those hours eat the benefit. This guide covers how the offers work and what a battery changes.
The offers
- Solar Sharer Offer. A regulated plan that started on 1 July 2026 in New South Wales, South East Queensland and South Australia. The free hours are 11am to 2pm in New South Wales and South East Queensland, and 12pm to 3pm in South Australia. They stay the same all year, including through daylight saving.
- Midday Power Saver. Victoria's version, available from 1 October 2026. The free hours are 11am to 2pm every day, weekends included. You sign up through your retailer.
- Retailer plans with free hours. Some retailers have their own market plans with free hours. These aren't regulated, so the retailer decides what you pay at other times and how the free hours work. Read each one on its own terms.
For both regulated offers you need a smart meter. They are opt-in, so your retailer won't move you onto one by itself. Most retailers must offer them. Each one has a daily limit of 24 kWh of free power. That is a lot for most homes. Power over the limit is charged at a set rate, and the daily supply charge always applies. Power on a controlled load circuit is billed separately, so it doesn't get the free hours.
What a battery changes
- It can fill up for free. A battery set to charge from the grid in the free window stores cheap power for the evening, when rates are highest. The Victorian Government's own guide points out that this helps most on days when your solar generation is lower.
- The daily limit counts everything. Your battery, your house and an electric car (EV) all draw from the same 24 kWh. A big battery plus a busy house can go past it. After that you pay for the extra.
- The rest of the day may cost more. Rates outside the free hours and the daily supply charge can be higher than on a standard plan. Your battery has to carry the expensive evening, or you pay those rates.
- Your solar already does some of this. If your panels fill the battery by midday anyway, free grid power adds less for you than it would for a home without solar.
- Spread the load. The Victorian Government advises staggering big loads such as a battery and an EV charger across the window. If your switchboard is old, ask a licensed electrician first.
Who it suits, and who it doesn't
It tends to suit a home that:
- can charge the battery in the window and gets through the evening on it,
- has an EV, pool pump or hot water it can run in those three hours, or
- has people home in the daytime.
It tends to suit you less if:
- your battery is small and runs out well before the evening peak is over,
- most of your use is in the morning and evening, and your battery doesn't cover it, or
- your current plan has a generous feed-in rate or a discount that you would lose.
Before you sign up, compare the whole plan: the free hours, the rates outside the window and the daily supply charge. In Victoria, you can leave the offer without an exit fee if you change your mind.
How PowerLens treats these plans
A bill can't price a plan with free hours. Your bill splits your usage using your current plan's time windows, and another plan has a different split. You need your meter data file (NEM12), which is free to add. Then PowerLens prices the supported free-midday plans against your real half hours.
Some Solar Sharer and Midday Power Saver plans don't publish a daily limit in the plan data. For those, PowerLens uses the standard 24 kWh a day and the standard rate for your area above it, and the report says so. Your real cost may be higher. If we can't find that standard rate for your area, we leave the plan out rather than price it as unlimited.
Two things to keep in mind. PowerLens prices your usage as your meter recorded it, so it doesn't re-run your battery on a new schedule. If a plan only pays off once you change when your battery charges, the result can't show that. And PowerLens doesn't tell you how to set your battery. Your installer or your battery app can help with that. No saving is guaranteed.
Where to check the details
Ready to check your own home? Start with your bill, then add your meter data. Or read whether to switch plans after getting a battery.