[DavidKarlas]

My biggest problem with solar and storage is not day/week energy management we can solve that easy, add more batteries, pumped hydro, use car batteries, incentivize customers to use electricity when sun is up... All easy problem compared to seasonal storage.

Where do we get enough renewable electricity on cloudy week in December? Synthetic gas/oil produced in summer? Anything more promising?

[vegetablepotpie]

There are a few technologies on the horizon. Using excess energy during the summer to produce a fuel, like you said, is one option. Hydrogen has been considered, but storing it long term is difficult. Another option is ammonia, although it’s toxic and corrosive, and although it produces no CO2 when burned, it still produces NOx, a potent greenhouse gas.

There are technologies on the horizon that could fill the long term storage needs for winter power. Lithium Ion, although great for mobile technologies, is not ideal for grid scale storage. It can’t store power for long. But other chemistries such as vanadium flow batteries and iron air batteries can discharge longer, and they can store power for far longer.

[pierat]

Use energy with atmospheric 3(C02) + 8(H20) -> C3H8 + 7(O2)

[mcbishop]

For one thing, we could overbuild (cheap) solar. A big portion of summer solar production might be curtailed... and that might be okay.