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Solar Sharer plans featuring free daytime electricity can be great value for EV owners – but there\u2019s a catch. To make the most of the offer, you need a dedicated home charger set to run during the free hours. If you use a regular wall socket and try to guess the timing, you\u2019ll barely cover your commute, and your bill will stay about the same. Here\u2019s how to get it right.<\/p>\n
The Solar Sharer Offer<\/a> requires participating energy retailers to give customers 3 hours of free power a day, capped at 24 kWh.\u00a0Most households would find it hard to use 24 kWh of free power at once. An EV is one of the few things that can actually use that much energy in a short time – provided you have a home charger.<\/p>\n A standard wall socket delivers about 2 kW of power. Using it to charge your car is called Level 1 charging<\/a>. It adds around 10 km of driving range per hour, so in a 3-hour window, you get about 30 km.<\/p>\n It\u2019s painfully slow. A wall plug alone won\u2019t cover the distance during the free window. That\u2019s when you need to look at a Level 2 charger.<\/p>\n A dedicated Level 2 home charger makes a big difference. A 7 kW single-phase charger adds about 40 km of range per hour, so you get about 120 km in the 3-hour window. With a three-phase charger and a compatible car, you can extend that driving radius even more.<\/p>\n This is the most important part. If your charger is even slightly out of sync with the free hours, you\u2019ll be charged full price as soon as the window ends. We hate this.<\/p>\n There are a few ways to schedule it:<\/p>\n No matter which method you choose, don\u2019t rely on your memory for timing.<\/p>\n The official advice from the federal government<\/a> is to shift as much as possible into the free window: heating or cooling, the dryer, the dishwasher, and the EV charger, all at once. In practice, your home’s electrical supply has a limit.<\/p>\n An EV charger already pulls hour after hour of full-rated power, unlike most appliances that cycle on and off. The steady, ongoing power draw doesn\u2019t always leave room for a dryer or a reverse-cycle air conditioner to run at the same time.<\/p>\n Running too many big loads at once risks tripping your main breaker rather than saving you money. Before you plan to run everything during the free hours, check with a licensed electrician or your installer to see if your switchboard and mains supply can handle it.<\/p>\n Putting in an EV charger is more complicated than just adding a plug. The wiring rules treat it as new electrical work. Under AS\/NZS 3000, you might have to update your switchboard’s safety switches<\/a> to meet current standards.<\/p>\n This happens often, and it’s not something you can skip. Rebuilding a switchboard usually starts at around $1,000. Many people are surprised by this extra cost if it isn’t included in the first quote.<\/p>\n Space is another issue. Older or crowded boards might not have enough room. In that case, you may need a full rebuild or a separate sub-board near the charger, as explained in this guide to sizing a bigger switchboard<\/a>.<\/p>\nHow To Charge Your EV During The Free Window<\/h2>\n
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Don’t Stack Too Many Big Loads At Once<\/h2>\nGet Your Switchboard Checked First<\/h2>\n
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