The Net-Electric Milestone
Net electric — more electricity out than the machine consumes — is the burner’s defining bar, unproven anywhere in fusion today.
The hard threshold
Net electric means gross electrical output exceeds everything the machine recirculates: magnets, heating, cryogenics, and balance of plant. It is a harder bar than scientific gain, and no fusion machine has demonstrated it. It is the milestone that separates a research device from a power generator.
MetroVolt is designed toward net electric via direct energy conversion, which recovers charged-particle energy efficiently. But the design intent is not a demonstration. Net electric depends on the sustained burn, the DEC efficiency, and the recirculating-power budget all landing together on real hardware.
Why we state it so plainly
Overclaiming net electric is fusion’s most common credibility failure. MetroVolt states that there is no hardware net-gain claim before the breeder’s first-of-a-kind milestone, and no burner net-electric claim before the test unit measures it. The firm-power value proposition rests on this milestone, which remains ahead.
- Definition: output exceeds all recirculated power.
- Status: not demonstrated by any fusion machine, MetroVolt included.
- Depends on: sustained burn + DEC efficiency + power budget together.