The battery is just a Lithium Ion battery. Been around for a long time. The news is that Tesla Motors, in cooperation with Panasonic is building a giant factory to produce these batteries.
Enphase is supposed to be coming out with a battery for their solar rig that stores a lot of juice.
Vanadium technology far surpasses L-I because they supposedly don't degrade over time.
Battery wars - the answer to that is to use less power. I have LED bulbs in my flashlight's and haven't replaced a battery in many years.
Solar is becoming more reasonable, but they have to work an awful lot on making households more efficient for that to be more attractive.
