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In this episode of the Soliverse Podcast, Peter sits down with Julia Wu and Anuj Saigal—co-founders of SparkHQ.ai, the AI startup tackling one of clean energy’s biggest pain points: permitting.

With delays and cancellations killing up to 80% of solar projects, Spark is using large language models and real-world empathy to help developers build faster, smarter, and at scale.

They discuss:

🧠 Why AI is essential to energy infrastructure—not just a nice-to-have

📍 How Spark helps navigate 20,000+ local permitting jurisdictions

⚡ The real cost of zoning delays, moratoria, and sentiment blind spots

💻 Why legacy permitting tools can’t keep up—and Spark’s AI-first solution does

🌍 How battery storage and data centers are reshaping developer workflows

🧱 Lessons from Y Combinator and building in a high-stakes climate market

📊 Why the best developers are doubling down—despite market volatility

Connect with SparkHQ.ai:

🌐 Website: https://sparkhq.ai

📧 Email: [email protected] | [email protected]

🔗 LinkedIn – Julia: https://www.linkedin.com/in/juliaxwu

🔗 LinkedIn – Anuj: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anujsaigal/

Referenced Resources:

📚 Inflation Reduction Act

📊 Berkeley Lab – Interconnection & permitting stats

🧱 Ezra Klein on “Abundance” and infrastructure bottlenecks

Connect with Soliverse:

🎧 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6C2HVmlEcsFXJqzxlfT9uA?si=f7fe6e3ff9b441a5

🌐 Website: https://soliverse.energy

🔗 LinkedIn – Peter: https://www.linkedin.com/in/peterpongraczsaas

🔗 LinkedIn – Soliverse: https://www.linkedin.com/company/106534214/

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