Liz Galst 5 minute read # Free electricity? Australia’s got it, thanks to solar. Could the US be next? Published: June 11, 2026 “It’s just a complete no-brainer,” says Sharon Melamed. ![Solar panels on a rooftop with the Sydney Opera House in the background](/sites/default/files/styles/1440px_width_scale/public/2026-06/2NGVWF2HI5MYDGZIPCJ4EUZVTU%20%281%29.jpg?itok=xtb1DJS5) Australia tops the world in solar power per capita. (*Hollie Adams*/*Reuters*) When the small-business owner first heard that electricity retailers in her hometown of Sydney, Australia would soon be offering free power — three free hours in the middle of each day — she immediately thought of all the energy-hogging things she could do for free: charge her electric car, run the dishwasher, do the laundry. The savings for her family, she estimates, will be hundreds of dollars a year. “We’re not watching every penny,” says Melamed, who works from home. “But if it’s better to do it this way, why wouldn’t you?” [Similar savings would be possible](https://www.edf.org/protect) for U.S. families too, experts say — as long as there’s political will to get it done. Through its Solar Sharer program, which launches July 1, the Australian government is betting that free power in the middle of the day — exactly the time the country’s solar infrastructure generates more energy than it can use — will help shift the behavior of consumers like Melamed, encouraging them to use electricity when it’s cheap, abundant and clean, and enabling Australia to use less coal- and gas-fired electricity. ![Sharon Melamed standing in front of Sydney Harbor at night](/sites/default/files/styles/1440px_width_scale/public/2026-06/Sharon%20with%20Opera%20House%20%281%29.jpeg?itok=0Ebh5fGE) Many Sydney residents, like Sharon Melamed, will be getting three hours of free electricity in the middle of the day, thanks to Australia's abundance of solar power. (*Courtesy of Sharon Melamed*) The country can give electricity away because it has more solar power per capita than any other, with a third more kilowatt-hours per person than the second-ranked Netherlands, according to the energy think tank Ember. Australia’s solar riches aren’t just the result of its sunny location, though. (No. 2 Netherlands is one of the cloudiest places on Earth.) Instead, a combination of smart policies and incentives, and the incredible economies of scale that can result, make solar the obvious choice Down Under. A home solar system there, for example, costs about a third of a comparable system installed in the U.S. — one reason why more than 40% of Australian households sport solar panels on their roofs. Topics - [ Climate and energy ](/all-stories?topic=21&subcategory=21) - [ People and planet ](/all-stories?topic=34&subcategory=34) - [ Clean energy ](/all-stories?topic=21&subcategory=27) - [ Law and policy ](/all-stories?topic=21&subcategory=28) Share - [ LinkedIn ](https://www.linkedin.com/sharing/share-offsite/?url=https://vitalsigns.edf.org/story/free-electricity-australias-got-it-thanks-solar-could-us-be-next "Share this on LinkedIn") - [ Twitter ](https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?url=https://vitalsigns.edf.org/story/free-electricity-australias-got-it-thanks-solar-could-us-be-next&text=It’s not the sun, it’s the policies. In Australia, there’s so much solar power, residents can soon get free electricity for 3 hours a day. With smart energy policies, the U.S. could make electricity more affordable, too.  "Share this on Twitter") - [ Facebook ](https://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=https://vitalsigns.edf.org/story/free-electricity-australias-got-it-thanks-solar-could-us-be-next "Share this on Facebook") - [ Pocket ](https://getpocket.com/edit?url=https://vitalsigns.edf.org/story/free-electricity-australias-got-it-thanks-solar-could-us-be-next "Share this on Pocket") - [ Flipboard ](https://share.flipboard.com/bookmarklet/popout?v=2&title=Free electricity? Australia’s got it, thanks to solar. Could the US be next? &url=https://vitalsigns.edf.org/story/free-electricity-australias-got-it-thanks-solar-could-us-be-next "Share this on Flipboard") - [ Telegram ](https://telegram.me/share/url?url=https://vitalsigns.edf.org/story/free-electricity-australias-got-it-thanks-solar-could-us-be-next&text=It’s not the sun, it’s the policies. In Australia, there’s so much solar power, residents can soon get free electricity for 3 hours a day. With smart energy policies, the U.S. could make electricity more affordable, too.  "Share this on Telegram") ## Environmental news that matters, straight to your inbox ## Now some Americans are wondering: Could it happen here? For families in the United States facing skyrocketing electric prices — up 13% in the last year — the idea of free, midday electricity might be something of a revelation. But it’s not as far-fetched as it sounds, explains Ted Kelly, lead counsel for the U.S. clean energy program at the global nonprofit Environmental Defense Fund. Already, solar supplied almost 9% of U.S. electricity in 2025. And the U.S. Department of Energy estimates that the technology has the potential to generate almost 100 times as much electricity as the country consumes each year. “It’s not sunshine we lack in the United States,” Kelly says. “It’s some imagination and some political will.” - [**These small-town neighbors teamed up to get discounted solar panels and cut their electric bills**](/story/these-small-town-neighbors-teamed-get-discounted-solar-panels-and-cut-their-electric-bills "These small-town neighbors teamed up to get discounted solar panels and cut their electric bills") ## Solar policies yield smart results In the late 1990s, Australian Prime Minister John Howard faced a conundrum. He was about to announce the government’s hostile stance toward the Kyoto Protocol, the first international treaty [limiting climate pollution](https://www.edf.org/issue/climate-pollution). (For the record, Australia would eventually ratify Kyoto in 2007.) But, within his coalition, he needed to throw environmentalists a bone: They wanted standards that allowed for quick solar building permits and approvals to connect to the power grid. ![Australian Prime Minister John Howard in 1999 talking to reporters](/sites/default/files/styles/1440px_width_scale/public/2026-06/GettyImages-1712271568.jpg?itok=pvWhVQtd) Australian Prime Minister John Howard introduced quick permits and connections to the power grid for solar power almost 30 years ago. (*Getty*) At the time, solar power was so expensive as to be almost inaccessible: a 1.5 kilowatt system — just enough to power a fridge, a microwave, and a well pump — cost about $12,000 Australian (about $18,000 USD today). What was needed were smart policies that could allow the technology to take flight. Through Howard’s tenure, the national government introduced its Renewable Energy Target, requiring the country to get 20% of its electricity from clean sources by 2020. (The country beat that goal, with 24% of its electricity coming from renewable sources in 2020.) And in 2007, Howard’s final year, the first solar rebates rolled out. State governments got in on the action, too, reimbursing homeowners with popular grid-tied solar systems, giving more money for every kilowatt hour of solar they sent to the grid than these same homeowners paid when they used electricity generated offsite. More recently, given the abundance of solar already installed in Australia, the government started ramping down solar incentives and ramping up support for batteries, which soak up excess solar power when it’s plentiful for use after the sun sets. Whereas permitting, interconnection and inspection can take months in the U.S. (leading to cold feet on the part of many potential buyers), Australia’s rules enable building owners to get permits to install solar and connect with the local grid in a matter of days. The country has managed to kickstart a virtuous cycle that spurs demand and generates economies of scale, while creating a competitive business environment that has driven down costs even further. All of which has meant that, when Vini Kumar and Bharath Sundararajan recently decided to install a solar system big enough to power their 5-bedroom home in the Melbourne suburbs and charge an electric car, it cost them only $11,500 AUD ($8,336 USD). From start to finish, the project took just two weeks — and their system will pay for itself, via lower electric costs, in only about three or four years. After that, the free electricity is pure gravy. “I think Australia is doing a great job at this,” says Sundararajan. “I must brag right now because I think we were one of the first to jump on the \[solar\] bandwagon and embrace it the way we have.” ## A sunnier outlook for the U.S. — if we act Australia is showing no signs of slowing down its clean energy progress. By 2030, its incentives will help the country get 85% of its electricity from a portfolio of renewable sources, with solar providing the lion’s share, Ember projects. ![Sheep in a field in front of a large array of solar panels](/sites/default/files/styles/1440px_width_scale/public/2026-06/GettyImages-2220794153%20%281%29.jpg?itok=jjfPSr0u) Solar fields in Australia and the U.S. may look identical, but because of smart policies, Aussies are reaping more benefits. (*Getty*) The U.S., by contrast, is moving in the opposite direction, at least on the federal level. Rather than build on its growing solar successes — the technology was responsible for 54% of all new electric generating capacity installed in 2025 — the Trump administration and its allies in Congress threw progress into reverse last summer and discontinued the federal tax credits that covered up to 30% of the cost of installing a home solar system. Credits for utility-scale projects — the big solar farms that currently supply about 6.5% of U.S. electricity — require construction begin by July 4, despite surging demand for power. For homeowners in the United States, a solar system like Kumar and Sundararajan’s might cost $30,000 or more — and take several months to come online. But hope is not lost for the immense potential of U.S. solar power. For example, bipartisan legislation now before Congress, the American Energy Dominance Act, could restore some of those discontinued tax credits for homeowners and large-scale clean energy projects. Despite setbacks and shaky political headwinds, utility-scale solar is still the fastest growing and most affordable source of new electricity in the country. “Australia found a way through smart policy and streamlined permitting, interconnection rules, and inspections to bring a spectacular amount of solar power online and start offering free electricity to many residential customers who don’t have panels on their homes,” says Kelly. “With the right policies at the local, state and federal level, there’s no reason we can’t do that here.” ## Environmental news that matters, straight to your inbox Topics - [ Climate and energy ](/all-stories?topic=21&subcategory=21) - [ People and planet ](/all-stories?topic=34&subcategory=34) - [ Clean energy ](/all-stories?topic=21&subcategory=27) - [ Law and policy ](/all-stories?topic=21&subcategory=28) - [ LinkedIn ](https://www.linkedin.com/sharing/share-offsite/?url=https://vitalsigns.edf.org/story/free-electricity-australias-got-it-thanks-solar-could-us-be-next "Share this on LinkedIn") - [ Twitter ](https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?url=https://vitalsigns.edf.org/story/free-electricity-australias-got-it-thanks-solar-could-us-be-next&text=It’s not the sun, it’s the policies. 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