Thanks bio-d. This whole storage problem is a huge factor for renewable energy. Distributed energy storage, in the form of electric car batteries, as a substitute for utility scale energy storage, would seem to be a key technology. As you have pointed out, in your area the sun will not provide enough power in cloudy winter months. But when the winter winds rage across the northern plains, the energy overflow could charge the distributed battery in your area, then that power could hold you over until the next strong winds struck. Would it be feasible for homes as well as electric cars to carry extra storage to take advantage of peak renewable energy production? I think so given mass production of these nano tech batteries..costs would drop. Some people already heat with offpeak power, which sells at a third of regular power rates, then store the heat energy to coast through the day. Electric cars charged up at offpeak power rates that then power one's home through the higher rate period would have a much quicker payback period in terms of lower energy cost. Even without using solar or wind. Once this form of storage in electric vehicle batteries is introduced into the home energy equation, supplemental solar and wind also become much more feasible from the point of view of family economics. It's a solution that pays off for the individual homeowner as well as the nation as a whole. Although it IS hard to imagine the corporate energy entities embracing any kind of distributed solution now, look at how soaring energy prices effect politics. Is a renewable energy revolution possible on a national and global scale? It does seem hopeless when one realizes the overwhelming poltical influence of energy corporations. There is that phenomenon however that seems to indicate that once 10% of a population embraces a revolution, it then proceeds exponentially on it's own momentum. When will 10% of cars and homes incorporate electric battery plugin techology powered by renewable energy? We will see, hopefully in our lifetimes. I think it's inevitable, but "clean" coal and nuclear power could slow it down and keep it in the slow crawl it is in now for decades.