In the summer of 2009, the BIN-RDI held the first in a series of workshops on Renewable energy. Held at NASA Ames, the workshop covered "Renewable Energy Microgrids." A group of about 30 invited experts from academia and industry discussed critical issues in using renewable energy sources to generate reliable, stable electric power. Participants came from eight universities, three large Silicon Valley companies, and several Silicon Valley start ups. Together, they represented a global community of researchers and practitioners.
https://www.soe.ucsc.edu/microgridworkshop
A follow-up workshop on "Energy Storage for Renewables" is in the planning stage for fall/winter 09-10.