Dyson Sphere Energy Calculator (2D)

Swarm Coverage

Sphere coverage 35%

Star

Luminosity 1.00 L☉

Orbit

Orbit speed 1.0x

Swarm assembling — collectors gathering starlight.

Live Energy Readout

Collectors

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Star output

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Power captured

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Kardashev scale

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vs. human use

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How it works

A Dyson swarm is a cloud of independent solar collectors sharing an orbit shell around a star, rather than one rigid shell (which is not structurally possible). The fraction of the star's full 4π steradians blocked by collectors is the coverage — every percent of coverage intercepts that same percent of the star's total radiated power.

A star's power output (luminosity) scales enormously with type: a red dwarf radiates a few percent of the Sun's output, while a blue giant can radiate tens of thousands of times more. Total captured power = luminosity × coverage fraction × collector efficiency (~85% here, accounting for conversion and beaming losses).

The Kardashev scale ranks a civilization by how much power it commands: K = (log₁₀P − 6) / 10, where P is in watts. A Type I civilization (K=1) uses about as much power as reaches its home planet from its star (~10¹⁶–10¹⁷ W); Type II (K=2, ~10²⁶ W) harnesses its entire star's output — a completed Dyson swarm is the textbook example.

Collector satellite Energy beam to hub Central star