Amber vs GloBird ZEROHERO: Battery & EV Plan Comparison

SHORT ANSWER

Amber is likely to suit households seeking dynamic wholesale-market optimisation, while GloBird ZEROHERO can be particularly attractive for homes with large batteries and EVs that can use its 12pm to 3pm $0/kWh window. GloBird publishes a 50kWh/day ZEROCHARGE fair-use provision based on a standard 28-day billing cycle, equivalent to approximately 1,400kWh across that reference cycle. By comparison, the regulated Solar Sharer Offer provides up to 24kWh/day, equivalent to 672kWh over 28 days. On that basis, GloBird’s published free-power allowance is a little over twice as large.

 Installing a home battery is only part of the energy-saving equation.

Once your battery is installed, how you charge it, when you discharge it, how you use your solar, and which electricity plan or Virtual Power Plant you connect it to can significantly affect the financial return from your system.

Two options attracting increasing attention from Australian battery owners are Amber Electric and GloBird ZEROHERO.

Both can help battery owners shift electricity consumption away from expensive periods, but they use very different strategies.

Amber provides access to wholesale electricity pricing and uses SmartShift automation to respond dynamically to changing market conditions. Amber currently charges a $25 monthly subscription and passes through wholesale electricity pricing rather than offering fixed retail usage rates. Amber subscription information.

GloBird ZEROHERO takes a more structured approach, providing three hours of $0/kWh electricity each day, a potential $1 daily evening credit, a higher evening feed-in tariff, and optional additional VPP functionality for compatible batteries. GloBird ZEROHERO.

There is also another major difference.

GloBird’s free-power allowance is substantially larger than the allowance under the Australian Government’s standard Solar Sharer Offer.

For households with large batteries, EVs and other flexible electrical loads, that can materially change the economics.

So which option is better?

GloBird’s published 50kWh/day fair-use provision is a little over twice the 24kWh/day allowance under the regulated Solar Sharer Offer, which is available in NSW, SA and SE QLD only.

Key takeaways

• Amber provides direct exposure to variable wholesale electricity prices and battery optimisation through SmartShift.
• Amber currently charges a $25 monthly subscription. Source
• GloBird ZEROHERO currently provides three hours of $0/kWh electricity from 12pm to 3pm for customers joining from 1 July 2026. Source
  
• The standard Solar Sharer Offer provides up to 24kWh of free electricity per day, equivalent to 672kWh over 28 days. Source
• GloBird publishes a ZEROCHARGE fair-use provision of 50kWh per day averaged on a standard 28-day billing cycle, equivalent to approximately 1,400kWh across that reference cycle. This is very important as the user can go over the 50kWh limit use during certain days, as long as the total 1,400kWh threshold in the cycle is not passed.  (i.e. using 90kWh one day and 10kWh the following day).
• On an equivalent 28-day comparison, GloBird’s published ZEROCHARGE allowance is a little over twice the standard Solar Sharer allowance.
• The Solar Sharer Offer is available in NSW, SA and SE QLD only. It does not apply in Victoria or the ACT. 
• ZEROHERO customers can currently earn $1 per eligible day by effectively avoiding grid imports between 6pm and 9pm, subject to the plan’s conditions. Source
• GloBird also currently offers up to 10c/kWh in total for the first 15kWh exported between 6pm and 9pm each day under the applicable ZEROHERO feature. Source
• The core ZEROHERO features work with qualifying battery systems, while GloBird’s optional managed VPP functionality is limited to compatible battery brands. Source
• EV owners who have their vehicle at home between 12pm and 3pm should pay particular attention to GloBird ZEROHERO.
• Amber may be more attractive to customers seeking sophisticated market optimisation and the potential upside from very low, negative or high wholesale prices.
• There is no universal winner. Your solar production, battery capacity, EV charging habits and household load profile should determine the strategy.
• This difference is particularly relevant to highly electrified homes with a large battery, EV charging, electric heating and cooling, heat-pump hot water or other flexible daytime loads.

Amber vs GloBird ZEROHERO: At a Glance

Plan terms, tariffs, eligibility and fair-use provisions can change. Customers should confirm the current retailer offer before switching.

How Does Amber Work? 

Amber takes a fundamentally different approach from most traditional electricity retailers.

Rather than offering conventional fixed or time-of-use retail electricity pricing, Amber provides customers with access to wholesale electricity prices.

Wholesale prices change according to electricity supply and demand. Amber currently charges customers a $25 monthly subscription and passes through wholesale electricity costs rather than making its margin on electricity usage. Amber  subscription information

For customers with compatible batteries, Amber’s SmartShift technology can optimise when the battery charges and discharges.

The objective is straightforward: buy or store energy when it is inexpensive, then use or export stored energy when electricity becomes more valuable.

For customers willing to accept electricity-market variability, this can create attractive opportunities.

The trade-off is that the result is less predictable.

Amber does not guarantee that electricity will cost 5c, 10c or any other specific amount during a particular window. Wholesale  prices vary and can sometimes become extremely cheap or even negative, while at other times they can rise sharply.

When Can Amber Be Particularly Attractive?

Amber becomes particularly interesting when there is a large difference between cheap and expensive electricity periods.

During periods of abundant solar and renewable generation, wholesale electricity prices can fall significantly.

Later, when solar generation falls and electricity demand rises, wholesale prices may increase.

A battery can potentially take advantage of this difference.

Charge when electricity is cheap. Use or export when electricity is expensive.

Amber’s automation can make this strategy much more sophisticated than manually scheduling a battery. Customers with significant storage and export capacity may also benefit when wholesale prices become particularly volatile.

However, wholesale volatility can occur in both summer and winter.

For that reason, we do not recommend choosing an electricity retailer purely based on the season.

How Does GloBird ZEROHERO Work?

GloBird ZEROHERO takes a different approach.

Instead of relying primarily on wholesale market volatility, it provides battery owners with a series of defined daily incentives.

$0.00/kWh between 12pm and 3pm every day

For customers joining from 1 July 2026, GloBird currently offers this free usage window on eligible standard electricity circuits. Controlled loads and dedicated circuits are excluded from the free usage rate.
Source: GloBird ZEROHERO

That free window can potentially be used to:

• charge your home battery
• charge your EV
• run air conditioning
• operate eligible pool equipment
• heat water where connected to an eligible circuit
• run washing machines and dryers
• run dishwashers
• shift other flexible household loads into the middle of the day

For households that can move large amounts of electricity consumption into this period, the value can become substantial.

But GloBird has another important advantage that deserves more attention.

How GloBird ZEROHERO Compares With the Government’s Solar Sharer Offer

From July 2026, many Australian households are hearing more about three hours of free electricity every day.

First, an important point about where the Solar Sharer Offer applies.

The Solar Sharer Offer is only available in New South Wales, South Australia and South East Queensland. These are the regions covered by the Default Market Offer framework administered by the Australian Energy Regulator. Victoria operates under a separate framework and is not included, and the ACT is not covered either.

That matters for two reasons.

If you are in NSW, SA or SE QLD, you have a genuine choice between the regulated Solar Sharer Offer and a market offer such as GloBird ZEROHERO, and the comparison below is directly relevant to you.

If you are in Victoria, there is no Solar Sharer Offer. A plan like GloBird ZEROHERO is currently one of the few ways to access a daily free-power window at all, which arguably makes it more significant for Victorian households, not less.

The Australian Government’s Solar Sharer Offer provides eligible households with a three-hour free electricity window under the regulated offer framework.

Under the standard Solar Sharer Offer, households can access up to 24kWh of free electricity per day during the three-hour window.

Electricity consumed above the 24kWh allowance may be charged under the applicable offer.

For many conventional households, 24kWh is a generous amount.

But the energy requirements of a highly electrified home can be very different.

• a 30 to 50kWh battery

• one or two EVs

• electric heating and cooling

• heat-pump hot water

• pool equipment

• other flexible electrical loads

A home with these loads can potentially use far more than 24kWh when deliberately shifting consumption into
a free-power window.

Where GloBird ZEROHERO Differs 

GloBird publishes a 50kWh/day fair-use provision averaged on a standard 28-day billing cycle, equivalent to approximately 1,400kWh across that reference cycle. 

What does that mean in practical terms?

Using a standard 28-day reference cycle:

Solar Sharer Offer: 24kWh x 28 days = 672kWh
GloBird ZEROHERO: 50kWh x 28 days = approximately 1,400kWh

GloBird’s published reference is therefore a little over twice the free-energy allowance of the standard Solar Sharer Offer. For an average household this difference may not always matter. For a highly electrified home charging both a large battery and an EV, it can be a significant advantage. 

Both offers work in a similar way, with a defined free window each day and a reasonable-use limit on how much free electricity you can draw. 

One further difference worth noting: the windows are not always the same time of day.

The Solar Sharer window runs from 11am to 2pm in NSW and South East Queensland, and 12pm to 3pm in South Australia. GloBird’s ZEROHERO window runs from 12pm to 3pm for customers joining from 1 July 2026.

For NSW and SE QLD households, that one-hour shift can matter. It changes how the free window overlaps with your own solar production, and it changes whether your EV is home in time to use it. 

GloBird’s published allowance is a little over twice the size of the Solar Sharer allowance, 50kWh compared with 24kWh.

For a typical household that difference may never matter. For a home running a large battery alongside an EV, it can matter a great deal.

It is worth being clear about what is being compared. The Solar Sharer Offer is a regulated minimum that qualifying retailers must make available. It sets a floor, not a ceiling. Retailers remain free to offer market products with different windows, allowances and conditions, and several do. GloBird ZEROHERO is one of them, and it should be compared against other market offers as well as against the regulated baseline.

Why the Size of the Allowance Matters for Large Batteries

Consider a household with a 40kWh battery.

After a sunny day, that battery may already be full and need little or no grid charging. After two or three overcast winter days, the same battery could need a substantial top-up.

A household’s free-window energy requirement is not the same every day. It is driven by weather, season and how much the household has used.

On the days when grid charging is genuinely needed, typically the days when solar has underperformed, a larger allowance gives a high-energy household more room to recover the battery within the free window.

Are You an EV Owner? This Could Change the Decision

Is your EV regularly parked at home between 12pm and 3pm?

If the answer is yes, GloBird ZEROHERO deserves serious consideration.

EV charging is one of the largest flexible electrical loads available to most households.

The Australian Government itself identifies EV charging and home battery charging as high-energy activities that can be shifted into free-power periods. Solar Sharer Offer

With ZEROHERO, eligible electricity consumption from 12pm to 3pm is currently charged at $0/kWh on standard circuits, subject to the plan’s conditions and fair-use provision.

That means you could potentially use the same three-hour period to charge your home battery + charge your EV + run other flexible household loads.

For someone who works from home, has flexible hours, works shifts, is retired, has a second EV that spends more time at home, or simply has the vehicle parked at home during the afternoon, this can materially change the economics of the electricity plan.

Why the Allowance Matters Most for EV Owners

A 24kWh free allowance sounds generous until you combine a home battery with an electric vehicle.

The limit is easier to reach than most people expect, because it is really a limit on how much power you can draw at once across three hours.

Consider a household charging both: 

The Practical Limit Is About Power, Not Just Energy

GloBird vs Amber for EV Charging

Amber also offers a sophisticated EV proposition.

Rather than providing a fixed free period, Amber allows EV charging to respond to variable wholesale electricity prices.

Amber currently recommends that some flexible EV users consider opportunity-charging settings around 5 to 10c/kWh during the day and 10 to 15c/kWh overnight. These are suggested optimisation thresholds, not guaranteed Amber electricity rates. Amber EV guidance

Actual wholesale prices can be lower, higher or sometimes negative.

The Fundamental Difference
Amber: “Charge my EV when electricity becomes cheap enough.”
GloBird ZEROHERO: “If my EV is connected from 12pm to 3pm, eligible usage during that period is charged at $0/kWh.”

Amber can potentially produce exceptional charging opportunities when wholesale prices become extremely low or negative, but those opportunities are market dependent.

GloBird’s attraction is certainty and simplicity.

If your EV is reliably at home during the free-power window, knowing there is a recurring $0/kWh usage period may be more valuable than waiting for wholesale prices to reach a particular level.

EV Owner Decision Guide

The $1 ZEROHERO Daily Credit

GloBird also currently offers customers a $1 credit for an eligible ZEROHERO day.

To qualify, grid consumption during the evening period from 6pm to 9pm must remain below GloBird’s specified threshold, currently less than 0.03kWh per hour, subject to the current plan conditions.

This is particularly relevant to battery owners.

A properly sized and sufficiently charged battery can potentially supply the household through the evening peak without relying materially on the grid.

If the credit were achieved every day of the year, it could represent up to $365 per year in bill credits.

Actual results depend on battery capacity, state of charge, household consumption and GloBird’s applicable terms.

Get Paid More for Evening Battery Exports

GloBird also currently offers a up to 10c/kWh in total feed-in tariff for the first 15kWh exported between 6pm and 9pm each day under the relevant ZEROHERO feature.
Source: GloBird ZEROHERO Partner

That creates a relatively simple energy strategy:

• Charge during the $0/kWh period.

• Use your battery to avoid evening grid imports.

• Potentially export surplus stored energy during the rewarded evening window.

This is a very different proposition from Amber’s variable wholesale strategy. It is easier to understand and potentially easier for households to plan around.

Core ZEROHERO Benefits vs Optional Managed VPP Features

There is an important distinction between ZEROHERO’s core plan features and its optional managed VPP
functionality.

According to GloBird, the standard ZEROHERO plan provides the core plan benefits, while the optional VPP
layer is limited to compatible battery systems.

Current GloBird VPP compatibility list

As at August 2026, GloBird lists the following brands as compatible with its optional VPP functionality:

• AlphaESS

• Anker

• Neovolt

• Redback

• SAJ

• Sigenergy

• SolaX

• Solis + Dyness

• Sungrow

• WHES

This means a battery owner may still be able to benefit from ZEROHERO’s core plan features even if their battery is not currently on the optional managed VPP compatibility list.

Compatibility and eligibility should always be checked before switching.

What About Winter?

Winter can make GloBird particularly interesting for homes with large batteries.

Solar production is typically lower, while household energy consumption may rise because of heating.

A battery that comfortably reaches 100% from solar during summer may not achieve the same result during winter.

Being able to grid-charge during a defined $0/kWh window can therefore become more valuable.

This is particularly relevant for households with:

• large batteries

• high winter electricity consumption

• relatively small solar systems compared with battery capacity

• shaded solar arrays

• EVs

• several consecutive days of poor solar generation

That does not mean GloBird will always outperform Amber during winter.

It means the value of a predictable free charging window generally increases when solar alone cannot fully charge the battery.

What About Summer?

Summer can favour a different strategy.

If your solar system already fills your battery to 100% by midday, the value of free grid battery charging is reduced. A household may instead place greater value on:

• dynamic battery optimisation

• wholesale export opportunities

• preserving battery capacity for high-value periods

• responding to electricity-market volatility

That can favour Amber.

But an EV changes this calculation.

Even when your home battery is already full from solar, your EV may still be capable of absorbing tens of kilowatt-hours of electricity.

If the EV is parked at home between 12pm and 3pm, GloBird can still deliver significant value.

For this reason, we would not simplify the decision into Summer = Amber and Winter = GloBird. Your actual energy profile matters more than the calendar.

Should You Switch Between Amber and GloBird?

Possibly, but we would not recommend automatically switching every six months.

Instead, battery owners should periodically review:

• solar generation

• battery state-of-charge patterns

• grid imports

• battery capacity

• export capacity

• household peak consumption

• EV ownership

• when the EV is normally parked at home

• monthly EV charging consumption

• current electricity rates

• feed-in tariffs

• retailer fees

• VPP incentives

• wholesale market performance

• battery compatibility

For some households, one provider may remain the better option throughout the year.

For others, changing energy usage or retailer offers may alter the calculation.

Which Option Could Be Right for You?

Amber may be a better fit if you:

• want direct exposure to wholesale electricity pricing

• have a SmartShift-compatible battery

• prefer sophisticated automated optimisation

• are comfortable with variable electricity prices

• have significant export capacity

• want to pursue wholesale price spikes

• want EV charging flexibility outside a fixed three-hour window

• are prepared to accept greater variability for potentially greater market upside

GloBird ZEROHERO may be a better fit if you:

• prefer predictable daily benefits

• want three hours of $0/kWh electricity every day

• want a free-power allowance substantially larger than the standard Solar Sharer Offer

• have a large home battery

• own an EV that is regularly home between 12pm and 3pm

• have both an EV and home battery requiring significant charging

• want a larger daily free-power allowance of up to 50kWh

• can operate your home predominantly from battery between 6pm and 9pm

• value the opportunity for the $1 daily credit

• value the current evening export incentive

• prefer a structured energy strategy rather than relying primarily on wholesale volatility

Frequently Asked Questions