Building energy-independent data centers that can be deployed in months instead of the industry-standard five years. Voxel Energy bypasses the power grid entirely by capturing, storing, and consuming solar energy onsite using a DC-native architecture and second-life EV batteries. Former Tesla Autopilot and Infotainment Project Manager who oversaw distribution of prototype hardware. During Tesla's 2018 "production hell," led teams that built ad-hoc assembly lines for the Model 3 and worked on those lines himself. Previously founded three hardware companies before Voxel Energy. Voxel Energy (YC W26) won the Audience Choice Award at YC's Product Showcase in January 2026. The company has thousands of acres under contract and is currently accepting reservations for its off-grid data center deployments.
Episode featuring Casey Spencer will be out soon.
Voxel Energy builds energy-independent data centers that come with their own power supply. They capture, store, and consume solar energy onsite using a DC-native architecture and second-life EV batteries, completely bypassing the utility grid and its multi-year connection delays.
Traditional data centers lose up to 30% of power through multiple AC/DC conversion stages. Voxel uses a direct-current (DC) native architecture that reduces this to roughly 4% total loss across just 2 conversion stages. The modular energy storage and delivery systems are prefabricated and delivered to site, cutting design, permitting, and construction time dramatically.
$3 trillion in data center projects are slated for construction by 2030, yet half may never be built due to power grid constraints. The average time-to-power for a new data center is five years and growing. Voxel eliminates the grid bottleneck entirely by going off-grid with solar and battery storage, enabling deployment in months.
Second-life EV batteries are batteries retired from electric vehicles that still have significant capacity left for stationary storage. By repurposing them, Voxel gets cost-effective energy storage while giving these batteries a second useful life before recycling — reducing both costs and waste.
Casey Spencer (CEO) is a former Tesla Autopilot and Infotainment Project Manager who led teams during Tesla's Model 3 production ramp and went on to found three hardware companies. Max Pfeiffer (CTO) spent a year at Tesla designing electric big-rig prototypes, was named to Forbes 30 Under 30 for founding Maxwell Vehicles (an EV manufacturer), and specializes in electrical systems and high-voltage distribution. Evan Schmidt (COO) brings over a decade of experience managing commercial, HVAC, and data center construction projects.
Voxel Energy (YC W26) won the Audience Choice Award at YC's Product Showcase in January 2026 and launched publicly in February 2026. They have thousands of acres under contract and are currently accepting reservations. They've also partnered with Sift to eliminate barriers and power next-generation grids.
While the industry standard is around five years from planning to power-on, Voxel's prefabricated modular systems and grid-independent design allow deployment in months. By removing the need for utility grid connections, permitting delays, and traditional infrastructure buildout, they compress the timeline dramatically.
