Apparently the duo that founded LightSail Energy in 2009 – Chief Scientist Danielle Fong and CEO Steve Crane – figured out how to capture and reuse the heat generated when electric motors compress air, making their system much more efficient.

According to lead investor Vinod Khosla, the Berkeley, CA-based startup has the potential to produce "reliable grid-scale storage at a fraction of the cost of today’s battery technology."

In a press release (which you can read in full on page 2) Crane suggests that with the investment, his company "is well positioned to tackle, once and for all, a problem that’s bedeviled the electrical industry for more than a century." LightSail will use the $37.3 million to bring their first grid-scale energy storage products to market.

More on energy storage…

Energy storage market will climb, but challenges remain

Promising steps toward grid-scale renewables storage (really)

Grid storage outlook: Battery costs will drop, but not enough to shut the door on innovation