Meta signs deal for space-based solar power to fuel AI data centers around the clock

Meta inks deal for solar power at night, beamed from space | TechCrunch

The race to secure electricity for AI models has reached new heights: Meta has signed an agreement with the startup Overview Energy that could see a thousand satellites beam infrared light to solar farms that power data centers at night. In 2024, Meta's data centers used more than 18,000 gigawatt-hours of electricity -- roughly enough to power more than 1.7 million American homes for a year -- and its need for compute power is only increasing. The company has committed to building 30 gigawatts of renewable power sources, with a focus on industrial-scale solar power plants. Typically, data centers turning to solar power must either invest in battery storage or rely on other generation sources to operate at night. Overview, a four-year-old, Ashburn, Virginia, outfit that emerged from stealth in December, has a different solution: The company is developing spacecraft that collect plentiful solar power in space. It then plans to convert that energy to near-infrared light and beam it at sufficiently large solar farms -- on the order of hundreds of megawatts -- which can convert that light to electricity. By using a wide, infrared beam to power existing terrestrial solar infrastructure, Overview thinks it can sidestep the technological challenges and safety and regulatory issues that bedevil plans to transmit power to Earth through high-power lasers or microwave beams. CEO Marc Berte says you'll be able to stare right into his satellite's beam with no ill effects. The technology would increase the return on investment from building solar farms and reduce reliance on fossil fuels -- if it can be deployed at scale. Overview says it has already demonstrated power transmission to the ground from an aircraft, and is planning to launch a satellite to low Earth orbit in January 2028 to perform its first power transmission from space. In today's announcement, Meta said it signed the first capacity reservation agreement with Overview to receive up to 1 gigawatt of power from the company's spacecraft, although it's not clear if any money changed hands. Overview developed a new metric for this contract, megawatt photons, which is the amount of light required to generate a megawatt of electricity. Berte expects to begin launching the satellites that would fulfill that commitment in 2030, with a goal of flying 1,000 spacecraft in geosynchronous orbit, a high orbit in which each satellite remains fixed above the same point on Earth. He expects each of the company's spacecraft to provide power from space for more than 10 years. Once in space, Berte says the fleet of spacecraft will be able to cover about a third of the planet, with an initial deployment that will reach from the West Coast of the United States across to Western Europe. As the Earth rotates below and customer solar farms enter evening and night, Overview's spacecraft should boost their electrical generation with additional light from space. Berte sees opportunity in combining both generation and transmission, with the flexibility to deliver power to solar farms wherever and whenever it is most valuable. "There's a big difference between being in any one energy market, and being in all of the energy markets," Berte told TechCrunch.

Mark Zuckerberg Looks to SimCity 2000 Idea to Power AI Data Centers

To power AI data centers, Mark Zuckerberg's Meta is looking to an idea straight out of SimCity 2000: Using orbiting satellites to beam solar energy down to Earth. Meta is partnering with a Virginia-based startup, Overview Energy, which is developing a fleet of satellites to harness solar energy in Earth's orbit. It's a bit different from the emerging orbiting data center market, since the satellites will be designed solely to beam energy to solar farms on the ground. In contrast, other companies, including SpaceX, envision packing their data center satellites with GPUs and giant solar panels. Meta's goal is to transmit up to 1 gigawatt of space solar energy, "increasing the capacity of existing solar farms by enabling around-the-clock energy production," since solar farms need to go idle at night. The idea is reminiscent of the classic PC game SimCity 2000, which featured the Microwave Power Plant that also used space solar energy, a concept that's been around for decades. The US government even investigated the idea, but pointed to numerous technical, economic, and environmental uncertainties. In SimCity 2000, the power plant also relied on orbiting satellites to beam microwave signals, but these satellites occasionally caused fires when the beam missed the power plant's main dish. Overview Energy plans to mass-produce satellites equipped with lasers that will use near-infrared light not visible to the human eye to transmit the space solar energy to receivers on the ground at existing solar farms. Meta sees the approach as a way to squeeze more energy from those solar farms. "Because the technology will build on solar infrastructure that's already in place rather than requiring new facilities, it can come online faster at scale than traditional buildouts," the company says. But not everyone sees space solar energy as a viable concept. SpaceX CEO Elon Musk slammed the idea over a decade ago, calling it "the stupidest thing ever." Musk argued that simply placing a solar panel on the ground could gather more energy during the day than collecting, beaming, and converting energy from space to Earth. "Take any given solar cell: is it better to have on Earth or in orbit? What do you get from being in orbit? You get twice as much sun, best case. But you've got to do a conversion. You've got incoming photons that go to electrons, but you have to do two conversions you don't have to do on Earth. You've got to convert it to photons and then convert those photons back into electrons," he said at the time. However, Overview Energy says it completed a technology demo in November using a plane flying at night equipped with lasers. "It marks the moment when the idea of space solar energy becomes more tangible. The core elements work. The safety holds. The next steps are clear," the company wrote. The company is aiming to conduct a "low Earth orbit (LEO) pilot in 2028 that demonstrates the full system in space," before launching a larger satellite system in the 2029 to 2030 time frame. In December, TechCrunch reported that Overview Energy had raised $20 million in funding.

Meta wants to power data centers from space

Why it matters: Monday's announcement shows how AI giants are pushing the tech envelope in their quest for electricity. * "This is among the largest commitments to ultra-long-duration storage in the industry, setting an example for how technology companies can power AI and cloud infrastructure using storage to maximize availability of energy," the companies said. Driving the news: Meta's and Overview's "reservation agreement" is for up to 1 gigawatt of capacity. * Overview, which emerged from stealth in late 2025, hopes to begin commercial deployment in 2030. Zoom (way) out: The idea is to collect solar energy in space and beam it to on-the-ground solar projects, "allowing these assets to maximize utilization and produce power around-the-clock," the companies said. * This would, in theory, enable more power from existing solar installations without needing new land and grid interconnection queue waits. * "This means solar farms that currently sit idle at night can keep producing electricity around the clock, maximizing their output and creating more energy for the grid," the companies said. The bottom line: It sounds kinda out there (no pun intended).

Meta's latest outrageous deal is getting solar power beamed even at night from satellites

Meta's deal with Overview Energy isn't just about clean power. It's a preview of what keeping AI running sustainably at planetary scale is going to require. Out of all the things Meta has ever been accused of, thinking small hasn't been one of them. The company that owns the most popular social media and messaging platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, and WhatsApp, is now looking at beaming sunlight from space to the Earth's surface for powering its AI data centers after dark (via TechCrunch). What has Meta actually agreed to? Meta has announced a capacity reservation agreement with a four-year-old Virginia-based startup called Overview Energy to receive up to one gigawatt of power generated by a fleet of geosynchronous satellites (which are roughly 22,000 miles above the surface). Recommended Videos The company's satellites continuously collect sunlight in space. As part of the deal, they'll transmit it back to the earth as low-intensity near-infrared light, which Meta's existing solar farms (on the ground) will convert back into electricity. In other words, the company will get solar power that doesn't stop, even when the sun goes down. With the rise in demand for AI-based features and services for both consumers and enterprises, Meta's data centers have consumed over 18,000 gigawatt-hours of electricity in 2024, which, just to give you some perspective, can power roughly 1.7 million American homes for 12 months. When is Overview expecting full commercial deployment? Given that the demand is only growing as AI workloads become even more popular, and that traditional solar panels can only produce electricity in the day, unless they're paired with extensive (and expensive) battery storage, Meta is compelled to draw power directly from space, where solar energy is quite abundant. Overview has already planned a low Earth orbit satellite demonstration in January 2028, with full commercial deployment (from geosynchronous orbit) expected around 2030. The company expects to put a fleet of up to 1,000 spacecraft in orbit to cover roughly one-third of the planet, potentially appealing to other energy-hungry customers. To me, beaming solar power from space and converting it into electricity sounds exciting, and potentially, one of the most groundbreaking technological innovations that could potentially help reduce our reliance on conventional energy sources and make solar energy more accessible. This signals how severe the AI energy crisis could get in the coming years However, it also sounds like an alarm about where the AI energy requirement is heading (toward a potential crisis). When the world's largest social media platform (and AI company) starts reserving its spot to receive solar energy from satellites that don't even exist yet, it tells you how serious the race to power AI sustainably has become. The grid, alone, will certainly not be enough, not for all the companies that we currently have that need an exceptional amount of power. It won't be a surprise if other AI companies come running behind Overview to reserve their slots in the near future.

Meta explores space-based solar power to support AI growth

Meta is advancing its artificial intelligence infrastructure by partnering with Overview Energy to develop a solar energy collection system in orbit, aiming to minimize downtime and enhance energy reliability. The initiative will use satellites in geosynchronous orbit, approximately 22,000 miles above Earth's equator, to collect constant solar energy and transmit it to Earth as low-intensity, near-infrared light. This approach seeks to maximize solar power output and increase the capacity of solar energy systems, addressing energy needs crucial for Meta's AI projects. Meta stated, "Solar facilities only generate electricity when the sun is shining, leaving them idle for significant parts of the day. Overview Energy aims to unlock those idle hours." The technology is designed to leverage existing solar infrastructure, allowing for faster deployment compared to traditional solar installations. Video: Meta The orbital solar proposal is comparable to SpaceX's notion of placing data centers in space. However, Meta's approach emphasizes the use of current infrastructure, which the company claims could integrate swiftly while mitigating impacts on the consumer power grid. Additionally, Meta announced a collaboration with Noon Energy to explore advanced solar battery storage solutions. Noon Energy's technology utilizes modular, reversible solid oxide fuel cells and carbon-based storage, providing over 100 hours of energy storage. According to Meta, this partnership could significantly expand its power storage capabilities, complementing the orbital solar initiative and supporting the broader goal of establishing independent power sources for AI operations. These initiatives align with the White House's AI action plan, which stresses the necessity for an expanding power grid to keep up with the pace of AI innovation. Meta's commitment reflects an effort to responsibly advance AI while seeking to minimize impacts on everyday consumers.

Meta Is Turning to Space to Power AI -- Here's How It Plans to Beam Energy Back to Earth

As companies race to build more powerful AI, they're running into energy constraints. Data centers increasingly require enormous amounts of energy, and existing infrastructure is already strained. Meta's latest move proves it's looking far beyond traditional solutions -- -even beyond Earth itself. The company announced partnerships with Overview Energy and Noon Energy, two startups tackling different sides of the same problem: how to generate more clean energy and store it long enough to keep AI systems running around the clock. Traditional solar farms only produce power when the sun is shining, leaving them idle for large parts of the day. Overview Energy is trying to fill those gaps. Using satellites that orbit 2,000 miles above Earth -- where sunlight is constant -- the company can capture solar energy around the clock. Unlike ground-based panels that depend on daylight and weather, these satellites generate a steady, uninterrupted stream of power, Meta explained.

Meta announces partnership with Noon Energy to meet data centre needs - The Economic Times

Meta is investing in new energy solutions for its AI data centers. The company is partnering to bring space solar energy to Earth, providing power around the clock. Additionally, Meta is securing ultra-long-duration energy storage. These innovations aim to ensure reliable, clean power for its growing AI needs.Meta has announced two energy partnerships to deliver reliable power for its AI infrastructure and data centres' needs "by advancing innovative energy generation and storage". In a blog post titled 'Powering AI, Strengthening the Grid: Innovation in Space Solar Energy and Long-Duration Storage," Meta said it is partnering with Overview Energy to bring up to 1 GW of space solar energy to Earth. Meta, a US-based multinational technology conglomerate, also said it is partnering with Noon Energy to deploy up to 1 GW/100 GWh of ultra-long-duration energy storage enabling 24/7 clean, reliable power for its next-generation AI data centers. The blog post on the company's website noted that the existing clean energy technologies have limits, as solar depends on sunlight and wind depends on the weather. The technology conglomerate said it is partnering with Overview Energy to bring "up to 1 GW of space solar energy" to Earth. The company said this will help increase the capacity of existing solar farms by enabling energy production around the clock. Explaining the technology, Meta said Overview Energy's satellites will sit in geosynchronous orbit above Earth, where sunlight is constant, and will collect energy in space before beaming it to Earth-based solar facilities. "This means solar farms that currently sit idle at night can keep producing electricity around the clock," Meta said in the blog. The company said the partnership makes Meta one of the first major technology companies to secure a capacity reservation for space solar energy. Referring to the other partnership, Meta said Noon Energy's technology can provide "over 100 hours of energy storage", which is far beyond what lithium-ion batteries currently deliver. Under the partnership, Meta has reserved "up to 1 GW/100 GWh" of ultra-long-duration energy storage capacity, with an initial pilot demonstration project expected to be completed in 2028. Meta said this technology will provide grid resilience and enable baseload energy to support its AI infrastructure around the clock. The company said that both technologies are still early, but noted they are worth backing because they can help unlock more from existing infrastructure and store energy for days at a time.