Sam Atlman-backed Exowatt wants to power AI data centers with billions of hot rocks

When Hannan Happi started reasoning astir however to lick the AI powerfulness crisis, helium kept 1 fig successful mind: 1 cent per kilowatt-hour.

“We went done each sorts of configurations and designs,” Happi, co-founder and CEO of Exowatt, told TechCrunch. “They each look antithetic from each other. We tried to larn from everyone 1 of them: How bash I trim structural costs? How bash I trim attraction costs? How bash I optimize for this?”

After years of brainstorming and building, Exowatt’s archetypal measurement toward that extremity is simply a elemental container the size of a shipping instrumentality topped with a wide awning. Inside is likewise simple. If Exowatt tin present connected its committedness of delivering inexpensive star powerfulness that generates energy 24-7, it could upend the information halfway marketplace and broader vigor world, delivering round-the-clock powerfulness astatine precise debased cost.

To standard accumulation successful pursuit of the one-cent per kWh target, Exowatt has raised an further $50 cardinal successful an hold to its $70 cardinal Series A circular that closed successful April, TechCrunch has exclusively learned. 

The hold was led by MVP Ventures and 8090 Industries with information from Atomic, BAM, Bay Bridge Ventures, DeepWork Capital, Dragon Global, the Florida Opportunity Fund, Massive VC, New Atlas Capital, Overmatch, Protagonist, and StepStone. Previous investors see Andreessen Horowitz and Sam Altman.

Happi said that Exowatt wasn’t looking to rise further superior aft the April round, but “strong momentum we saw successful the market” and “strong capitalist interest” encouraged him to instrumentality the caller wealth astatine a higher valuation.

Exowatt’s backlog is presently astir 10 cardinal P3 units representing 90 gigawatt-hours of capacity, helium said. “The extremity is to standard arsenic accelerated arsenic imaginable to the millions and yet billions of units,” helium said. The institution should deed its one-cent people erstwhile accumulation hits astir 1 cardinal units per year, Happi said.

Exowatt is fundamentally repackaging a exertion that’s been astir for decades. Known arsenic concentrated star powerfulness oregon thermal star power, it uses the Sun’s vigor to vigor materials that are bully astatine storing oregon transporting thermal energy. In cases wherever that thermal vigor is stored for an extended play of time, those materials thin to beryllium derived from oregon lucifer rocks — hence the technology’s nickname of “rocks successful a box.”

Each P3 instrumentality consists of a metallic container topped with lenses that absorption the sunlight into a choky beam. That beam past heats a peculiar ceramic wrong the shipping container. A instrumentality blows aerial implicit the ceramic to transportation the vigor to different container which contains a Stirling motor (a piston-driven instrumentality that converts vigor to mechanical energy) and a generator. To store much power, developers would instal much P3 boxes. “Everything is designed to beryllium highly simple,” Happi said.

Each thermal artillery tin clasp vigor for up to 5 days, ensuring continuous operation, and Exowatt volition drawstring respective unneurotic to provender a azygous generator unit. How galore depends connected however rapidly and however overmuch energy a lawsuit wants to generate. The system’s ratio is connected par with photovoltaic star panels, and somewhat amended than PV paired with lithium-ion batteries, Happi said.

Other companies person built assorted approaches to the aforesaid technology, though astir person failed to compete with photovoltaic star and lithium-ion batteries, some of which person amazed experts with however rapidly they’ve travel down successful cost.

Happi argued that the P3’s tiny size and Exowatt’s iterative attack sets it apart. There are conscionable implicit 100 star thermal oregon concentrated star powerfulness projects that are planned, built, oregon decommissioned astir the world, helium said. “If you comparison that to the information that we nutrient 1.5 cardinal star panels per year, you tin spot the learning curve effects are very, precise acold isolated from each other. 

“What Exowatt is astir is taking a modular strategy that we cognize successful rule works, and truly scaling the manufacturing of that and past applying the learning curves of manufacturing.”

Exowatt is improbable to beryllium outgo effectual everywhere, and the fig of P3 units needed to powerfulness a information halfway could necessitate monolithic amounts of land. Plus, it works champion successful the sunniest regions, which could bounds its broader impact. 

But Happi counters that there’s a “high overlap” betwixt wherever Exowatt’s P3 excels and wherever caller information centers are being built. “We’re not moving abbreviated of immoderate projects to do,” helium said.