http://www.tidalelectric.com/
"Tidal Lagoon" solution is that installing pumps allows the lagoon to be used for pumped storage (including pumping OUT at low tide) at several states of the tide, particularly as the lagoon perimeter has to be at a height sufficient to contain the relatively few really high spring tides, plus surges etc.
I'm a big fan of Tidal lagoons, coupled with judicious use of barrages, where tides are not necessarily cut off, but restricted to multiple choke points.
"Any economic unit can emit money. The serious problem is to get it accepted" Hyman Minsky
I don't much like messing with the coast line as opposed to building reservoirs inland. Every time we mess with the coast lines we seem to foul up some major habitat. There are enough mountains in most locales to be able to use water storage.
If we switch to plug in electric vehicles we should be able to use them to store excess nighttime production as well. IE, design the plug in points to only function after the local peak or if in an emergency at a much higher price. Our current electrical systems are sized for the peak + a safety factor. On our little island that means we have 135 MW of capacity to handle the daily peak of about 75 with an average of 50-55 MW for example.
We also need to shift the location of high energy industry to areas with lots of wind power much as we used to local Al smelters near hydro sources. Server racks can sit pretty much anywhere.
Large-scale penetration of Plug-In and all Electric Vehicles with development of a smart(er) grid that can draw from those vehicles when the grid requires power. Blogging regularly at Get Energy Smart. NOW!!!
Their ability to handle pumped storage as well is just a bonus which makes them even more attractive financially.
But I am 100% with you on the electric car/fuel cell as storage point, which adds to my existing interest in
http://www.autoindustry.co.uk/articles/05-06-06
which is backed by some extremely well-connected auto world people.
Building a car around the fuel cell, rather than vice versa seems like the way to go, and they have brought the necessary fuel cell capacity (and hence cost) right down, which is the key.
I'm also interested in the "Open Source" thinking, because I believe it is possible to come up with a half-way house between "Open Source" ands "Proprietary", but that's another story. "Any economic unit can emit money. The serious problem is to get it accepted" Hyman Minsky
