Patent ID: 8306671

Claim:
A method for encouraging the use of renewable energy sources and suitable for the conservation of energy resources through the efficient management of energy storage and delivery, the method comprising the steps of: connecting to a power source; connecting to an energy storage subsystem; connecting to a power grid; trading energy by at least one of buying and selling power to and from a power trading market: automatically switching in substantially real-time between storing energy by transferring energy from at least one of the power source and the power grid to the storage subsystem, and generating energy by transferring energy from the storage subsystem to the power grid, wherein the switching is based at least in part on a market factor; routing at least some energy produced by the power source to the power grid simultaneously with at least one of the storing energy and the generating energy; and utilizing power available from the power source, the storage subsystem, and the energy trading to fulfill contractual power service requirements.