Meta Bets on Space Solar to Power AI Data Centers After Dark
Meta has signed a 1 GW capacity deal with Overview Energy, a startup planning to beam orbital solar power to Earth as near-infrared light.
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Meta has reserved up to 1 gigawatt of electricity from Overview Energy, a four-year-old Virginia startup developing a satellite constellation that will beam solar power collected in orbit down to terrestrial farms as near-infrared light. The agreement — described by TechCrunch as the first-of-its-kind procurement deal in the sector — represents a novel answer to the 24/7 clean-energy challenge now defining the AI infrastructure arms race.
Meta’s Energy Appetite Meets a Night-Time Gap
According to TechCrunch, Meta’s data centers consumed over 18 TWh of electricity in 2024 — enough to supply roughly 1.7 million homes annually — and the company has committed to building 30 gigawatts of renewable capacity. The fundamental obstacle: solar generation stops at dusk, forcing operators to either invest in costly battery storage or fall back on fossil-fuel sources overnight. Overview’s proposition is to eliminate the night-time shortfall entirely.
How Space-Based Solar Sidesteps Old Obstacles
Overview’s architecture bypasses the regulatory and safety barriers that have long blocked high-power laser or microwave beaming schemes. TechCrunch reports that CEO Marc Berte is engineering spacecraft to harvest solar energy in orbit, convert it to near-infrared light, and direct a wide, diffuse beam at farm-scale receivers in the hundreds-of-megawatt range on the ground — receivers that largely already exist. Berte notes the beam is safe to view with the naked eye.
The company has already validated the concept through airborne relay power-beaming tests and is targeting a low-Earth-orbit satellite demonstration in January 2028. According to TechCrunch, commercial launches are expected around 2030, eventually scaling to roughly 1,000 spacecraft in geosynchronous orbit; each is projected to remain serviceable for over a decade.
Why This Matters
Meta’s reservation signals that hyperscalers are prepared to invest in decade-horizon energy infrastructure rather than wait for battery storage economics to mature — a posture that could legitimize the space-solar sector and accelerate venture funding. For the AI industry broadly, the deal marks the outer edge of how far operators will reach to guarantee uninterrupted, carbon-free compute power.
Frequently Asked Questions
How does Overview Energy's space-based solar technology work?
Overview's satellites collect solar energy in orbit, convert it to near-infrared light, and beam it down to large terrestrial solar farms, which convert that light into electricity.
When will Meta receive power from Overview Energy's satellites?
According to TechCrunch, Overview CEO Marc Berte expects to begin commercial satellite launches around 2030, with a demonstration satellite targeting low Earth orbit in January 2028.