We know a lot of ways to store power. The trick is storing it efficiently. If we have enough surplus power (which may be the case in a few years), efficiency becomes less important.
Just as an alternative to prioritizing storage (we should still do it, but it's not the only constructive use), we could use a lot of excess electricity to create hydrogen, desalinate sea water and pump it inland, create biochar without kickstarting the heating process via combustion, etc.
The hydrogen could be used for hydrogen vehicles and other purposes. Seawater desalination (very partially) addresses sealevel rise while also getting water to dry areas. Biochar sequesters carbon while helping more plants to grow with less water and less chemical fertilizer.
So from a certain point of view, the above pursuits are like investing most of your "excess money" in the stock market rather than putting most of it in a savings account. And since we're starting to address climate change so late we need something better than just a savings account or battery.
Imagine a san Joaquin valley that feeds everyone/doesn’t lie fallow, and yet the rivers run free, and the delta smelt can live. Oh and California’s native salmon runs come back.
The difficult part is storing it on the kind of massive scale required full stop. Sacrificing efficiency can only do so much to help solve this, especially since the wasted energy has to go somewhere and dealing with that has its own costs...
A lot of these problems solve themselves with proper pricing. For example if power is nearly free during daylight hours and expensive in the evening, businesses will shift some percentage of energy intensive operations to daylight hours. EV charging stations will charge more during evening hours.
Charging EVs during daylight hours while they are parked at work places instead of overnight at employees homes is another way we can shift use. Some of these things might be done via pricing, others perhaps government incentives.
The hydrogen could be used for hydrogen vehicles and other purposes. Seawater desalination (very partially) addresses sealevel rise while also getting water to dry areas. Biochar sequesters carbon while helping more plants to grow with less water and less chemical fertilizer.
So from a certain point of view, the above pursuits are like investing most of your "excess money" in the stock market rather than putting most of it in a savings account. And since we're starting to address climate change so late we need something better than just a savings account or battery.