The intermittent nature of wind and solar power means many microgrids still rely on highly polluting diesel generators to fill gaps in supply. But advances in lithium-ion batteries and hydrogen fuel cells — two key energy-storage technologies — could change the game.

WISE researcher Xiao-Yu Wu and his collaborator, Michael Giovanniello, set out to assess how.   The investigators created a model of a hypothetical Toronto-area wind-powered microgrid with a hybrid storage system serving 10,000…