Oh, or should I say Ohm (a measure of electrical resistance), what would Mr. Volta be thinking now? The 18th century Italian inventor of the battery certainly would be 'excited' to see the 'current' revolution occurring in fuel cells.

Think of the various ways we need batteries to store direct current (DC) to power our cars, portable radios, flashlights, laptops, and cell phones. Popular types of batteries use heavy nickel-cadmium (NiCd) or lighter weight lithium ion (with carbon as the anode). Li-ion batteries are currently being used to power electric cars. You've probably heard about construction of Tesla's Gigafactory near Reno to build Li-ion batteries for the next fleet using a solar roof top capable of generating 70 mega watts!

But what if someone could invent a solar panel that also stores electricity? Oh yes, it's being done by researchers at Ohio State University!

Are there alternatives to Li-ion batteries that do not explode? Aquion Energy is making salt-water batteries available to home owners. Vionix Energy is using vanadium redox chemistry for grid scale applications. Some day we will be able to capture some of the wind or solar energy in batteries to use when the wind is not blowing or the sun is not shining. The world's largest battery uses hydropower turbines to generate electricity and recycle water for balancing peak demand.

We are living in exciting times with all of the technological innovations! You say you want a re-volt-lution...?