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re: Apparently in the future data will be processed at solar-powered, orbital data centers.
Posted on 1/29/26 at 2:59 pm to Powerman
Posted on 1/29/26 at 2:59 pm to Powerman
quote:
Are you incapable of having a conversation within the context that it's framed?
Buddy said ultimate source for the world. Going to need a capacity factor batter than 10% to pull that off.
3
Posted on 1/29/26 at 3:01 pm to T1gerNate
quote:
What a crazy time we are living in.
Just imagine all of the farmland we will be able to recover.
Posted on 1/29/26 at 3:04 pm to NukemVol
If you don't think that shiny ball giving us infinite energy potential is the future of power, then we can just agree to disagree. No big deal.
This post was edited on 1/29/26 at 3:06 pm
Posted on 1/29/26 at 3:09 pm to Joshjrn
Technically, the energy we call “solar energy” originates from nuclear processes—specifically nuclear fusion in the Sun’s core.
Posted on 1/29/26 at 3:35 pm to NotoriousFSU
quote:
Technically, the energy we call “solar energy” originates from nuclear processes—specifically nuclear fusion in the Sun’s core.
That's... what I said?
Posted on 1/29/26 at 3:43 pm to GEAUXLPOST
quote:
If it is possible for these celestial data centers to orbit at a speed that would keep them in the shaded/dark side of earth at all times, wouldn't that solve the cooling issue that make data centers high electricity and water consumers? -250f on the shaded side should keep things nice and cool. +250f on the sunny side, not so much.
Hard to use solar power if it's always on the dark side of the earth. And cooling will be an issue even on the dark side. There is no convection or conduction heat loss in a vaccum, just radiative cooling which is very inefficient.
Posted on 1/29/26 at 3:44 pm to Joshjrn
Y'all are all wrong....and partially right. Typical OT.
Ground-based solar will always be a losing battle. Takes up too much land, too inefficient, expensive to store, ad infinitum.
Space-based solar has big potential, but how do you get it to where you want to use it? Extension cords from Harbor Freight ain't gonna work. Beaming by microwave might, better not miss!
Yeah, it's cold in space when not facing the sun, but there's also no medium to transfer the heat to, ie, air. Your primary means of getting rid of excess heat in space is radiation, which isn't very efficient. So that's a data center problem. The radiator ends up being bigger than the power panels, or close to them in size at best.
Ground-based solar will always be a losing battle. Takes up too much land, too inefficient, expensive to store, ad infinitum.
Space-based solar has big potential, but how do you get it to where you want to use it? Extension cords from Harbor Freight ain't gonna work. Beaming by microwave might, better not miss!
Yeah, it's cold in space when not facing the sun, but there's also no medium to transfer the heat to, ie, air. Your primary means of getting rid of excess heat in space is radiation, which isn't very efficient. So that's a data center problem. The radiator ends up being bigger than the power panels, or close to them in size at best.
Posted on 1/29/26 at 3:47 pm to Joshjrn
quote:
That's... what I said?
My bad I stopped reading after like the first sentence.
Posted on 1/29/26 at 3:50 pm to grizzlylongcut
quote:
Is nuclear not better and renewable?
I don't see why you couldn't do both, honestly. It would take some doing, but it should be possible, it think.
Posted on 1/29/26 at 3:56 pm to TheRealTigerHorn
quote:
Ground-based solar will always be a losing battle. Takes up too much land, too inefficient, expensive to store, ad infinitum.
Always is a very long time, and we have vastly more land than we need. Yes, it's currently too inefficient and expensive to store. We have current capacity and transfer issues. The entire premise of this sliver of the conversation is that, were the storage and transmission issues solved, solar would be the best renewable source of energy.
Posted on 1/29/26 at 4:12 pm to GRTiger
quote:Musk is probably trying to figure out how to put a Dyson Sphere around the sun.
It's the ultimate renewable energy.
Posted on 1/29/26 at 4:27 pm to T1gerNate
quote:
the lowest-cost place to put AI will be space
Great. So it doesn't even have to give a frick about the planet for its own existence when it goes Skynet.
Posted on 1/29/26 at 4:29 pm to T1gerNate
They are huge consumers of electricity. We will all be paying huge surcharges for the ones being built in Louisiana.
ETA... can you imagine the value of a device like the Hooli Box and Pied Piper's compression algorithm from Silicon Valley, in a world were data centers are orbiting earth in space? Richard Hendricks would become the first trillionaire almost instantly.
ETA... can you imagine the value of a device like the Hooli Box and Pied Piper's compression algorithm from Silicon Valley, in a world were data centers are orbiting earth in space? Richard Hendricks would become the first trillionaire almost instantly.
This post was edited on 1/29/26 at 4:34 pm
Posted on 1/29/26 at 4:30 pm to T1gerNate
do you realize how big a gigawatt of solar is?
and you want to deploy a gigawatt of solar in space?
and you want to deploy a gigawatt of solar in space?
This post was edited on 1/29/26 at 4:32 pm
Posted on 1/29/26 at 4:41 pm to T1gerNate
Oh man….The Chinese TET!!!!
Posted on 1/29/26 at 4:55 pm to GRTiger
quote:
It's the ultimate renewable energy.
Even at 100% efficiency it's still at best only 50% usable.
PV panels are barely at 25% efficiency, compounded by storage losses, further compounded by DC -> AC conversion losses. Far from ultimate.
Posted on 1/29/26 at 5:05 pm to dakarx
One hour of energy absorbed by the earth is enough power to run all of humanity for a year. We don't need 100% efficiency of capture or use for solar radiation to be effectively unlimited, constant power.
It is by far the most ultimate source. We just have to figure out how to improve capture and conversion methods. Which humans will absolutely figure out assuming we don't catch an asteroid or bomb ourselves into extinction.
It is by far the most ultimate source. We just have to figure out how to improve capture and conversion methods. Which humans will absolutely figure out assuming we don't catch an asteroid or bomb ourselves into extinction.
Posted on 1/29/26 at 5:08 pm to T1gerNate
quote:
“It's a no-brainer building solar-power data centers in space ... the lowest-cost place to put AI will be space and that will be true within two years, three at the latest," Musk said.
So a Sky Net of AI you say?
Posted on 1/29/26 at 5:09 pm to T1gerNate
Really cool, until a CME wipes out all of the data.
Posted on 1/29/26 at 5:10 pm to T1gerNate
I can’t wait to see the length of that extension cord that reaches from the orbiting power station to the electrical grid on the ground! 
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