Solar panels could destroy U.S. utilities, according to U.S. utilities

[RickFromMN]

116. Thank you for this link. This is fascinating.

I am a fan of renewable energy.

It sounds, to me, like efficient electrical storage, at a reasonable cost, is key.

I didn't realize efficient electrical storage would benefit not only renewable energy, but also coal and oil and gas and any other non-renewable energy sources.

If I may, I found a wiki link talking about grid energy storage.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grid_energy_storage

There is much in the wiki to digest.

From the wiki, it seems having a smart grid is an alternative to grid energy storage. It seems to me, having both, having grid energy storage and having a smart grid, would be best in the real world.

It seems our reference to the "smart grid" is not where we are making the grid smarter, but we are making the devices that demand energy from the grid smarter.

This wiki article had a link to another wiki article on Pumped-storage hydroelectricity.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pumped-storage_hydroelectricity

I found a site that discusses electricity storage.
http://www.electricitystorage.org/technology/storage_technologies/technology_comparison

Is it fair to suggest, based on a link from this site,

pumped storage is the best, current choice, for electrical storage?

I have an idea we view electric cars as cars with a different source of energy.
Could we, perhaps, also view electric cars as mobile batteries on wheels?

In an ideal world, would you suggest we have renewable energy sources putting power into pumped-storage hydroelectricity, with electric cars acting both as a means of transportation and as a source of power able to feed power back into the grid and act as an emergency backup should there be an interruption in power from the grid?

I actually like the idea homes could have solar panels that charge electric vehicles. Then I would suggest power from electric vehicles could flow back into the grid, on demand, when the grid requests power.

I am becoming a big fan of electric vehicles. Sadly, the initial cost of an electric vehicle is beyond the amount I can afford. I hope, in time, electric vehicles, will become cheaper, with longer ranges, with reasonable recharge times. I guess my hope is we will have wonderful advances in battery technology.

Is this a reasonable picture to paint of a future with renewable resources, with grid storage, with electric vehicles, with smart devices, i.e. having a "smart grid", drawing power from or giving power to the grid?

Thank you for the link to the California site.