Catherine McKalip-Thompson, manager of sustainability for Bechtel Infrastructure, describes trends in sustainable building design, smart cities and the integration of engineering, architecture and planning.

The solution with the greatest potential for solving the intermittency problem is battery storage. With the technology advancing at a rapid pace, batteries have the potential to store large amounts of power to distribute where and when needed.

Integrating solar power with the grid is a more difficult challenge than many might imagine. With home use of solar power increasing pressure on the grid, creative solutions will be needed to fully integrate this power source: battery storage is one.

Dr. Adam Hollinger of Penn State, Behrend, along with graduate student Scott DeLaney, discusses the safety and efficiency issues involved with lithium-ion batteries.

Solar power is growing rapidly and the technology behind it is advancing steadily. Battery storage will take the field of solar into the future and help it make the next leap forward. However, standards are needed to ensure safety and reliability.

Yoshinobu Shibata, president and CEO of Mitsubishi Nuclear Energy Systems, discusses the challenges of nuclear power production competing against low-cost natural gas and how it can gain greater acceptance.