posted in Technology
Australians to get at least three hours a day of free solar power – even if they don’t have solar panels
www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2025/nov/03/australians-to-get-at-least-three-hours-a-day-of-free-solar-power-even-if-they-dont-have-solar-panels
The part that this headline skips over is that it’s followed by 5 hours of pricing that are 3 times the regular rate, and then the rest of the day is a rare slightly under the old rate. The expensive rate kicks in between 4pm and 9pm, which is pretty much when the solar supply eases off and dries up.
If you work from home, it’s possible to shift some of the big load equipment to early afternoon, but some, like ovens and heaters aren’t so easy to shift. You really need to do the maths to see if it works.
If you’ve got a battery, you’re in a better position, because you can use your own solar and/or the free hours to top the battery up, and then draw on it during the expensive hours. Our battery isn’t quite big enough to carry us through 5 hours, but it gets us most of the way there, so the maths made it worth us to change to the new tariff.
If you work from home, it’s possible to shift some of the big load equipment to early afternoon
If the “big load” equipment you mean here is washing machines and dishwashers, many (if not most) have a delay timer option. I set mine before I leave home. Dishwasher can finish whenever; washing machine I schedule to finish around the time I get home so I can put things out to dry before they’ve been sitting wet for too long.
Even heaters can be partially shifted, if you’ve got good insulation and the technical capability. My (reverse cycle) AC system lets me set a timer, for example. You can automate them to run and heat up the place when electricity is free so the place is warm when you get home. Good insulation should keep it warm for a while. Though later into the evening and early the next morning are definitely still going to need it.
Yeah, that’s how we do it. Pre load the temperature before 4pm, timers, solar panels and a battery. It’s definitely worth it for us, but if someone doesn’t adjust their habits, they can end up worse off on the solar saver tariffs.