Exowatt, the Miami-based renewable energy startup backed by a16z and Sam Altman, has selected DG Matrix’s Interport solid-state transformer as the preferred power conversion platform for its modular solar-plus-storage deployments targeting hyperscale data centers.

The strategic partnership, announced Tuesday, pairs Exowatt’s heat-battery-based dispatchable solar technology with what DG Matrix calls the first commercially available solid-state transformer (SST). The companies said the integrated system is designed to support behind-the-meter power architectures at gigawatt scale, sidestepping the grid interconnection queues that have become a major bottleneck for new data center capacity across the United States.

Data center operators are scrambling for new sources of firm, carbon-free power as AI training and inference workloads drive unprecedented demand for electricity. Securing grid connections for large campuses can take years in many US markets, pushing developers toward behind-the-meter and onsite generation strategies that can deliver megawatts faster.

The Exowatt–DG Matrix tie-up is the latest in a string of partnerships attempting to address that challenge, following deals such as Vantage Data Centers’ agreement with Liberty Energy for up to 1GW of onsite generation and Google’s acquisition of Intersect Power to secure gigawatts of colocated clean energy.

Under the agreement, Exowatt will deploy DG Matrix’s Interport to manage AC/DC power conversion and routing within its Exowatt P3 generation and ExoRise storage platforms.

The solid-state transformer acts as an intelligent hub between Exowatt’s dispatchable solar modules and the data center load, handling the complex power flows that arise when bridging distributed renewable generation with the tight uptime and power-quality requirements of modern AI compute infrastructure.

“To stay competitive in the AI era, the industry needs reliable, clean megawatts at speed,” said Hannan Happi, CEO of Exowatt. “DG Matrix’s Interport provides the flexible, power-first foundation we need to scale our operations. By integrating their solid-state transformer technology into our ExoRise platform, we are eliminating traditional interconnection bottlenecks and accelerating our path to delivering firm, dispatchable power for the next generation of data center infrastructure.”

The companies described the approach as “power-first,” emphasizing that the modular architecture is designed for repeatability. Rather than engineering bespoke electrical systems for each site, the integrated stack can be replicated across deployments, theoretically allowing Exowatt to scale from individual campuses to multi-gigawatt portfolios without redesigning the power conversion layer each time.

DG Matrix said its SST technology also reduces the physical footprint and commissioning time compared with conventional transformer-based systems, enabling faster site activation.

“Exowatt is approaching clean power with the scale and rigor that the hyperscale market demands,” said Haroon Inam, CEO of DG Matrix. “This partnership demonstrates how advanced power routing is essential to unlocking the full potential of next-generation energy sources. We are proud to support Exowatt in converting their momentum into gigawatts, providing the infrastructure-grade reliability required to power the AI future.”

The partnership comes as Exowatt continues a rapid US expansion. The company, founded in 2023 by Happi and Atomic CEO Jack Abraham, has attracted funding from a16z, Atomic, Felicis, and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman to support American-made manufacturing of its thermal solar and storage systems. Its P3 platform converts concentrated solar energy into stored heat, which can then be dispatched as electricity on demand – a model designed to provide the firm, round-the-clock power profile that data center operators require.

Raleigh-Durham-based DG Matrix, meanwhile, has positioned its multi-port SST as a foundational technology for next-generation data center power delivery. The company has published a whitepaper through DCD outlining how solid-state transformers can serve as the power fabric for AI-ready facilities, and its platform is designed to align with both Nvidia’s 800VDC AI factory guidelines and the Open Compute Project’s Mount Diablo architecture.

Financial terms of the partnership were not disclosed. The companies did not specify a timeline for initial deployments but said the joint solution is designed to address Exowatt’s existing backlog of demand from data center and industrial customers.