Why 2 SpaceX alumni are betting on solar and batteries to power the AI craze | TechCrunch

Last day to exhibit your breakthrough to 10,000+ tech leaders at Disrupt is on Oct 2. Book Exhibit Table Now. Disrupt doors open Oct. 13. Get your pass and bring someone with you at 50% off. REGISTER NOW. Two SpaceX alumni have a pitch to hyperscalers, and it has nothing to do with outer space: They’re building power plants here on Earth that cost less — and get built faster — than a natural gas power plant. Ambrosia Energy, which has been operating in stealth until now, hasn’t invented a new technology. Instead, it’s pairing solar panels with lithium-ion batteries to keep electrons flowing around the clock for $100 per megawatt-hour. “A power plant should be able to be built at any scale in 12 months from contract signing to power on,” Sara Spangelo, co-founder and president of Ambrosia Energy, exclusively told TechCrunch. “Our ambition is to go to gigawatt scale.” To bring costs down, the startup has been able to simplify the battery pack. Most grid-scale batteries cycle in two or four hours, a speed that puts more strain on the system. But Ambrosia trickle-charges its batteries throughout the day and slowly discharges them at night. Those changes, plus some other engineering ref