Storage

Challenge and Opportunity in Storage

Sustainable energy storage is foundational to moving away from fossil fuels, but advances are needed in the efficiency, reliability, safety, sustainability, and scale of energy storage solutions. A particular focus is needed on multi-functional batteries that integrate and optimize storage with solar and wind generation, as well as carbon capture. The aim is for next generation storage solutions to provide safe, sustainable energy storage for all uses from personal, off-the-grid, to society-wide, grid-scale storage. ROSEI believes these solutions can be created in unusual forms that can also provide mechanical structure, and which utilize non-rare-earth minerals.

Featured Stories in Storage

The Fast Track to Better Batteries

A team of Hopkins researchers has created an automated platform that could speed up the search for better materials for Read more

Machine Learning Method Could Speed Path to Cleaner Energy Solutions

The process of testing new solar cell technologies has traditionally been slow and costly, requiring multiple steps. Led by a Read more

The Future of Solid-State Batteries in the Electric Vehicle Industry

MRS Bulletin recently featured a paper co-authored by Regina García-Méndez, an assistant professor of materials science and engineering and core Read more

Developing Batteries That Work in Frigid Temperatures

Researchers at Johns Hopkins’ Whiting School of Engineering (WSE) and the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (JHUAPL) are working to Read more

Solar Cells Simplified: New Approach Developed by Undergraduate Student Could Improve Solar Cell Efficiency

An algorithm developed by an undergraduate student in the Whiting School of Engineering’s Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) Read more

Researchers Aim to Expand Solar Energy Usage

This story was written by Wick Eisenberg, and originally appeared in The Hub. While solar energy is an asset in Read more

Leadership in Storage

Susanna Thon

ROSEI Associate Director, Leadership Council, Associate Professor and the Marshal Salant Faculty Scholar, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering

Jeffrey Maranchi

Leadership Council, Research Program Area Manager

Applied Physics Lab

Sara Thoi

Leadership Council, Associate Professor, Department of Chemistry

Participating Faculty in Storage

Ján Drgoňa

Associate Professor, Department of Civil and Systems Engineering

Jonah Erlebacher

Leadership Council, Professor, Department of Materials Science and Engineering

Regina García-Méndez

Assistant Professor, Department of Materials Science and Engineering

Konstantinos Gerasopoulos

Program Manager and Principal Staff Scientist, Applied Physics Laboratory

Thomas Gernay

Associate Professor, Department of Civil and Systems Engineering

Daniel Kammen

Leadership Council, Bloomberg Distinguished Professor of the Just Energy Transition, Department of Civil and Systems Engineering, School of Advanced International Studies

Howard Katz

Professor, Materials Science and Engineering

Magdalena Klemun

Assistant Professor, Department of Civil and Systems Engineering

Yayuan Liu

Russell Croft Faculty Scholar and Assistant Professor, Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering

Yuting Luo

Assistant Professor, Department of Materials Science and Engineering

Technical Papers from Storage Scholars

APL Collaboration

The Light-Integrated Technology for Energy Storage (LITES) initiative, which is led by Susanna Thon, Sara Thoi and Jeffrey Maranchi – ROSEI’s three leaders in storage – involves a steady collaboration with the Applied Physics Lab (APL). Maranchi, a research program area manager for APL, views the partnership between ROSEI and APL as a natural one, saying “We have a lot of interest in an effort we’ve called ‘environmental resistance’ that encompasses everything ROSEI is trying to do, and it’s all about preparing for climate change and trying to be better stewards of the Earth. So, it was as if our partners wanted to jump in a swim lane that we were already in.”

Students from both Thoi and Thon’s groups have access to the various workstations at APL’s state-of-the-art facility in Laurel, Maryland, which includes a dry room where researchers can work with lithium in a water-free atmosphere, and a battery synthesis lab that can help with creating new powders and coatings to go on batteries.

Recent News

Yuting Luo Receives NSF CAREER Award

Materials Science and Engineering Assistant Professor Yuting Luo has been awarded a Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) grant from the Read more

Building Better Batteries and Much More: Johns Hopkins Grows Energy Innovation Ecosystem

Susanna Thon and Sara Thoi are shedding light on the next generation of batteries—literally. Their work developing photobatteries, batteries that can recharge themselves Read more

Hopkins Researchers Develop Greener Method to Separate Cobalt and Nickel

As demand for lithium-ion batteries, which power everything from electric vehicles to smartphones and grid-scale storage systems, increases, so too Read more

Magdalena Klemun Teaching New Course on Developing Sustainable Systems

This spring, the Department of Civil and Systems Engineering is offering a new course taught by Assistant Professor Magdalena Klemun: Analytical Read more

ARPA-E Selects Johns Hopkins Project to Advance High-Density Energy Storage

The US Department of Energy’s (DOE) Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) recently announced nearly $15 million for six projects in Read more

ROSEI Summit 2026 Showcases Breadth of Sustainable Energy Research at Johns Hopkins

The Ralph O’Connor Sustainable Energy Institute (ROSEI) welcomed a record-breaking crowd to its fourth ROSEI Summit on January 14 for Read more