Tariffs
A1 vs Midday Saver: which tariff suits your battery?
A1 charges one price all day. Midday Saver charges three prices depending on the time. Here's how each one changes what a battery saves you.
The rates at a glance
- A1
- All day, every day
- ~33c/kWh
- One flat price
- Midday Saver
- 9am to 3pm
- ~9c/kWh
- Cheapest. The solar-soak window
- Midday Saver
- 9pm to 9am
- ~24c/kWh
- Overnight off-peak
- Midday Saver
- 3pm to 9pm
- ~55c/kWh
- Evening peak. Most expensive
| Time of day | A1 | Midday Saver | Midday Saver vs A1 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 9am to 3pmSuper off-peak (solar-soak) | ~33c | ~9c | 24c cheaper |
| 3pm to 9pmEvening peak | ~33c | ~55c | 22c dearer |
| 9pm to 9amOff-peak (overnight) | ~33c | ~24c | 9c cheaper |
| Daily supply chargePaid every day, however much you use | ~$1.19 | ~$1.33 | ~14c a day dearer |
All prices per kWh except the supply charge (per day). The difference column compares the rounded rates shown.
A1: one number, easy to plan around.Every kWh you import costs the same, day or night. A battery's job is simple: store daytime solar and use it in the evening instead of buying at that flat rate.
Midday Saver: only pays off if your usage can move.It rewards using power from 9am to 3pm and punishes evening imports. A battery (or shifting your appliances) is what makes it work.
Which tariff suits your battery?
Find the row that sounds most like your home.
Solar is strong all year
Your battery fills from solar, even in winter
A1 keeps it simpleThe battery draws mostly from solar and rarely touches the grid. A1's flat rate is easy to plan around. Midday Saver's cheap window adds little if the battery is already full by 9am.
Solar drops off in winter
Short days, battery not full by evening
Midday Saver + forced-chargingTop up the battery from the grid from 9am to 3pm (~9c) or overnight (~24c). That can cost less than paying A1's ~33c, and far less than Midday Saver's ~55c peak.
You use a lot of power during the day
Working from home, a workshop
A smaller battery can workYour solar covers daytime use directly, so there's less evening peak left for the battery to fill.
Two ways a battery earns more
Forced-charging: when is it worth it?
It pays when the price you charge at is well below the evening peak you'd otherwise pay.
- Charge 9am to 3pm~9c
- Charge overnight~24c
- Instead of importing at peak~55c
Both charging windows sit well under the peak. So topping up before a low-solar evening is usually cheaper.
Check with your installer before turning it on automatically. Some VPP programs set their own rules for when a battery can charge from the grid.
Clipped export: does it matter?
Yes, if you often hit an export limit. Here's what one kWh of spare solar is worth.
- Sent to the grid (DEBS, outside 3pm to 9pm)~2c
- Stored, then used instead of A1 power~33c
- Stored, then used instead of Midday Saver peak~55c
DEBS pays 10c from 3pm to 9pm. Stored solar still beats both export rates.
Export capped at 1.5 kW? Some export-limited connections cap inverter export at 1.5 kW under the network's opt-out arrangement. That's exactly when a battery earns its keep: it catches the excess instead of losing it to the limit.
Terms on this page
- Forced-charging
- Topping the battery up from the grid during a cheap window. Worth considering on short winter days, when solar alone won't fill the battery before the evening peak.
- Solar-soak window
- Midday Saver's cheapest band, 9am to 3pm, when WA's rooftop solar floods the grid.
- DEBS
- Synergy's payment for the solar you export to the grid.
- VPP
- A virtual power plant. Your battery joins a program that can use it during grid events, and you get paid for it.