Wind power as a source of electricity generation suffers from being a very volatile means of production. When a strong wind is blowing too much electricity is produced. When no wind blows no electricity is produced. This makes it very difficult for utility providers to build their electricity supply networks around wind.
Recently two solutions have been proposed to smooth the supply of electricity. Both proposals work by storing the excess energy and releasing it when required.
Apple have filed a patent for a wind turbine that uses mechanical power to produce heat rather than electricity. Heat energy is easier to store for long periods than electrical energy. The heat is then used to generate steam and turn turbines to produce electricity.
The Belgium government have announced doughnut shaped island with a reservoir in the middle to store wind power. Excess energy would be used to pump the water out of the reservoir. When additional electricity was required the water would be allowed to flow back into the reservoir through turbines.
Both of these solutions could potentially be used to store energy from solar power plants which also suffer from volatile supply patterns. The idea of pumping water as a store of excess energy could be exploited in many similar ways. Pumping water uphill to a reservoir maybe more easily achieved than the doughnut shaped island.
