It's a key problem for the energy industry: finding a way to store electricity to use when demand is at its highest or when none can be generated.
And energy storage is one of the United States Office of Electricity Delivery & Energy Reliability's top priorities. Any significant advance in this area would, according to its website, "represent a major breakthrough in electricity distribution… These devices can also help make renewable energy, whose power output cannot be controlled by grid operators, smooth and dispatchable."
Pittsburgh-based Aquion Energy believe they have developed a potentially game-changing energy storage device by using what the company describes as a 'twist' on saltwater batteries, a 200 year old technology according to Aquion.
Jay Whitacre is the founder and CTO of Aquion Energy. Before his role at Aquion, Whitacre worked on energy storage for NASA's Mars rover program.
As an Assistant Professor at Carnegie Mellon University, Whitacre was able to research and develop, "the chemistry that is the basis for Aquion Energy's product line," according to the company's website.