Overview
- Meta, which disclosed the plan Monday, signed a capacity reservation with Overview Energy for up to 1 gigawatt of future space-solar power and a separate deal with Noon Energy for up to 1 GW/100 GWh of long-duration storage.
- Overview’s concept uses satellites in geosynchronous orbit, a high path that stays over one spot on Earth, to collect sunlight and beam low‑intensity near‑infrared light to existing solar farms that then turn it into electricity at night.
- The companies target an in‑space beaming demo in 2028 with potential commercial deliveries starting in 2030, and they have not disclosed financial terms or secured all required regulatory approvals.
- Meta says fast‑growing AI workloads drive the push for firm clean power, noting its data centers used more than 18,000 GWh in 2024 and that it has contracted more than 30 GW across renewables, nuclear and emerging sources.
- Overview describes the beam as less intense than sunlight and passively safe, while planning for a large fleet post‑2030 that could let built solar sites produce after dark and ease local grid bottlenecks if the technology scales.