Solar Sharer in South Australia
By Sithum Imarsha Last reviewed
With a 3-person home on SA Power Networks and the flat default offer, the Solar Sharer plan costs $88 less a year if nothing moves, and $195 less a year once the dishwasher runs from 12pm to 3pm. Type your own bill and loads to see yours.
Your result
The free plan costs
$195 lessa year
$3,212 your plan − $3,016 Solar Sharer, SA Power Networks
Switch: the Solar Sharer plan costs less for this home. You move 0.5 kWh a day into the free hours, out of hours that cost about 58.84c a kWh on this plan.
- If you change nothing
- $88 less a year. About the same by design: the plan is priced to match the time-of-use default for a home that changes nothing. Your flat plan differs a little.
- Break-even move
- None: it costs no more as it is
- Moved to the free hours
- 0.5 kWh a day
- Solar in the free hours
- — kWh a day of your use
- Without the battery
- — a year
- Without the EV
- — a year
- Over the daily cap
- — kWh a day at 19.66c/kWh
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Midday Power Saver. —
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How we calculated this
- A typical home has its use split over the clock the way the regulators measured it.
- The loads you move, solar, a battery and an EV change how much lands in the free hours.
- Both plans are priced for the same home for a year. The result is the gap between them.
Full method, tables and sources: Solar Sharer and Midday Power Saver calculator
Split your day into the plan's hours
16.7 kWh a day (AER benchmark, Adelaide, 3 people): 13.3% in the free hours, 51.4% in the peak hours
Move the loads you chose
0.5 kWh a day from the peak hours
Solar, battery and EV
2.7 kWh a day in the free hours, 2.7 kWh from the grid; battery supplies — kWh a day on the free plan, — on yours
Price each plan
Yours: 41.91c/kWh, 180.05c a day. Free: 180.05c a day; peak 58.84c, off-peak 35.17c, solar soak 19.66c; free 12pm to 3pm up to 24 kWh a day, then 19.66c
The gap
$3,212 − $3,016: the free plan costs $195 less
Break-even
Change nothing: $88 less. 1 kWh moved is worth 58.84c, so break-even is 0 kWh a day
| Your plan | Free plan | |
|---|---|---|
| Supply charge | $657 | $657 |
| Peak hours | $1,236 | $1,735 |
| Other hours | $902 | $624 |
| Free hours | $417 | $0 |
| Solar feed-in credit (free hours) | $0 | $0 |
| Over the daily cap | $0 | |
| A year | $3,212 | $3,016 |
This version starts on SA Power Networks against the flat default market offer. The free hours in SA are 12pm to 3pm local time, not 11am to 2pm.
South Australia: what to know
Official source
- SA Power Networks is the only Solar Sharer network with the free hours at 12pm to 3pm. They follow the local clock, so they stay 12pm to 3pm in daylight saving.
- The SA Solar Sharer peak runs 6am to 10am and 4pm to midnight at 58.84c/kWh: 12 hours a day.
How the free hours are priced, and why a home that changes nothing pays about the same: read the guide on the main Solar Sharer calculator.
Questions
When is the Solar Sharer peak in South Australia?
The peak on SA Power Networks runs 6am to 10am and 4pm to 12am. That is 12 hours a day. The regulated peak rate is 58.84c a kWh. It is a cap set by the AER, so a retailer can charge less. The flat default offer charges 41.91c at any hour, so at the cap, use in those hours costs more on the Solar Sharer.
What does moving the dishwasher to the free hours save in SA?
A home using 16.7 kWh a day (AER benchmark, Adelaide, 3 people) pays $108 less a year on the Solar Sharer with the dishwasher run from 12pm to 3pm instead of in the peak: $3,016 against $3,124 if it changes nothing. The flat default offer comes to $3,212 for the same home. Each kWh moved out of the peak is worth about 58.84c.
What are the cheap hours in SA besides the free ones?
The regulated rates are Solar soak 19.66c (10am to 12pm and 3pm to 4pm) and Off-peak 35.17c (12am to 6am). Each is below the 41.91c the flat default offer charges. Use over 24 kWh a day in the free hours is capped at 19.66c a kWh.