Engineers at MIT have developed a new battery design using common materials – aluminum, sulfur and salt. Not only is the battery low-cost, but it’s resistant to fire and failures, and can be charged very fast, which could make it useful for powering a home or charging electric vehicles.
Ok, what to do with the heat of the batteries? Some sort of heat exchanger would need inclusion on this storage system to not waste the heat byproduct. Replacing gas/electric water heaters would be one option if enough heat is generated to do so, or it could supplement existing systems as preheating energy. Same for HVAC, depending on the season/location.