prashamk I agree that storage is a important component for Solar energy to expand upon its successes thus far and I have widely made reference to solar thermal energy storage technology that's well evolved now and I understand is far far cheaper than electrical energy storage.
I also agree on the nuclear issue in that there are so many countries that we need to offer clean low tech energy solutions, to help protect our fragile global security, particularly in relation to climate and of course nuclear proliferation.
See about the solar thermal concept including storage here;
www.sener.es/EPORTAL_DOCS/GENERAL/FILE-cwa0fcc36424ab41b7bf04/SOLARTRES.pdf
See what the US is doing today here;
http://www.californiaprogressreport.com/2008/05/_on_the_rise_so.html
http://www.environmentcalifornia.org/uploads/EX/qu/EXqur2dJBZQbJESwUtulZA/On-The-Rise.pdf
Note this Solar Thermal energy technology is evolving quite rapidly now and governments are lining up behind industry in promoting its development, so who knows what they will be saying 12 months from today. I understand China, India and the USA have good solar resources and the likely 3 biggest energy consumers going forward, among other countries. Even Europe is talking about a solar / wind super grid.
http://www.trecers.net/concept.html
A long way to go but as mentioned things are hotting up. No pun intended.
Also see;
The market for electric energy storage worth $2.6 billion in 2008 news on the Electrical news magazine
Quote:
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The electric energy storage (EES) core storage technologies of pumped hydro storage, compressed air energy storage, lead-acid batteries, sodium sulfur batteries, vanadium redox flow batteries, flywheels, superconducting magnetic energy storage and supercapacitors are positioned to make a significant impact over the next 5 years. These technologies can be deployed in various applications along the power chain including use in bulk generation, transmission and distribution, as well as providing enhanced services for the end user.
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