Meta Space Solar Energy Deal Is a First for Big Tech
Running the world’s most-used social platforms and powerful AI models takes a huge amount of electricity. Meta understands this better than most companies. Now, it is looking to the sky for answers.
Meta has secured a deal for up to 1 gigawatt of space-based solar energy from Overview Energy. The startup aims to collect sunlight using satellites orbiting Earth and convert it into electricity for the grid. A gigawatt is roughly equal to the output of a nuclear reactor.
The technology works differently from what most people imagine. Overview: Energy is developing spacecraft that collect solar energy in orbit. They convert this energy into near-infrared light. The light is then beamed down to large solar farms on the ground, where it is converted into electricity.
By using a wide infrared beam, the company can power existing solar infrastructure. As a result, it may avoid the technical, safety, and regulatory challenges linked to high-power lasers or microwave beams.
The Meta space solar energy deal is therefore not just a clean energy play. It is a solution to a very specific engineering problem. Typically, data centres turning to solar power must either invest in battery storage or rely on other generation sources to operate at night. Overview: Energy has a different solution.
The numbers tell the story. In 2024, Meta’s data centres used more than 18,000 gigawatt-hours of electricity, roughly enough to power more than 1.7 million American homes for a year. Its need for computing power is only increasing.
Meta has already made enormous clean energy commitments. The company has contracted more than 30 GW of clean and renewable energy, representing billions in capital investments. This includes partnerships for geothermal energy and agreements for 7.7 GW of nuclear energy with companies including Vistra, TerraPower, Oklo, and Constellation Energy.
However, space solar takes the ambition to a different level entirely. Orbital arrays offer a 30% power boost by eliminating atmospheric attenuation and provide roughly five times the energy yield of terrestrial systems by operating outside the day-night cycle.
The Timeline and What Comes Next
Overview Energy and Meta announced their partnership to advance American-built space solar energy with an initial orbital demonstration in 2028 and commercial power delivery expected in 2030.
The overview says it has already demonstrated power transmission to the ground from an aircraft. The company plans to launch a satellite to low Earth orbit in January 2028 to perform its first power transmission from space.
CEO Marc Berte is confident the technology is safe. He says you will be able to stare directly into his satellite’s beam with no ill effects. That is a bold claim, and the 2028 demonstration will be the moment that tests it.
For Meta, the Meta space solar energy deal is a bet that the grid as it exists today cannot meet the demands of AI at scale. As a result, the company is building a power supply that does not depend on the grid at all.
