Meta Signs Agreement for Space-Based Solar Power to Supply Nighttime Electricity

The race to secure reliable power for AI infrastructure has intensified, with Meta recently partnering with Overview Energy on a groundbreaking initiative. The agreement explores deploying a constellation of up to 1,000 satellites designed to beam infrared light to terrestrial solar farms, enabling continuous energy generation for data centers even after sunset.

Meta’s expanding AI workloads are driving unprecedented energy demands. In 2024 alone, the tech giant’s data centers consumed more than 18,000 gigawatt-hours of electricity—sufficient to power approximately 1.7 million American households annually. To meet escalating computational requirements, Meta has pledged to develop 30 gigawatts of renewable capacity, with a strategic emphasis on utility-scale solar installations.

Traditionally, tech facilities relying on solar energy face a critical limitation: intermittency. Without costly battery storage systems or backup fossil-fuel generators, operations typically halt or scale down during nighttime hours.

Ashburn, Virginia-based startup Overview Energy is tackling this intermittency challenge head-on. After debuting publicly last December, the four-year-old firm is engineering specialized spacecraft capable of harvesting uninterrupted solar radiation in orbit. The captured energy will be converted into near-infrared light and directed toward ground-based solar arrays, typically spanning hundreds of megawatts, where specialized photovoltaic cells will transform the light back into usable electricity.

By utilizing broad-spectrum infrared beams rather than concentrated high-power lasers or microwave transmissions, Overview aims to circumvent the stringent safety protocols and regulatory hurdles associated with space-to-earth power beaming. According to CEO Marc Berte, the system is engineered to be inherently safe, with beam intensities low enough that direct human exposure poses no health risks.

At scale, this orbital energy transmission model could dramatically improve the return on investment for solar developers while significantly accelerating the transition away from fossil-fuel-dependent grid infrastructure.

Overview has already successfully validated its core technology through aerial demonstrations, transmitting power from aircraft to ground receivers. The company is now targeting a January 2028 launch of a low-Earth orbit (LEO) satellite to conduct its inaugural space-to-surface energy transmission trial.

In a landmark announcement, Meta confirmed it has secured a capacity reservation agreement with Overview, locking in up to 1 gigawatt of potential orbital power. While financial terms remain undisclosed, the partnership introduces a novel industry metric coined by Overview: the "megawatt photon," which quantifies the precise light intensity required to generate one megawatt of terrestrial power.

Looking ahead, Berte anticipates initiating full-scale satellite deployments by 2030. The long-term roadmap envisions a fleet of 1,000 spacecraft stationed in geostationary orbit, a high-altitude trajectory that keeps each satellite fixed above a specific terrestrial coordinate. Each unit is designed to deliver continuous orbital energy for over a decade.

Once operational, this constellation will blanket roughly one-third of the planet, with initial coverage spanning from the U.S. West Coast to Western Europe. As the Earth rotates and ground-based solar facilities transition into dusk and nighttime, the overhead satellites will seamlessly supplement power generation by delivering targeted infrared illumination.

Berte highlights a strategic advantage in unifying energy generation with dynamic transmission. This architecture allows Overview to redirect power flows to solar farms precisely when and where grid electricity commands the highest market value.

"There’s a fundamental distinction between optimizing for a single regional grid and addressing the broader global energy landscape," Berte noted, underscoring the scalability of the orbital power network.