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You could probably store and recover more energy from those batteries by lifting them from a crane.
You just precisely described pumped-storage hydro and why it's used for 99% of bulk electricity storage :)
Instead we keep hearing the old "Wind and solar will never work because base load" garbage.
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I think that's an unfair and cynical view of the goals of utility companies. Some utilities may lobby to make distributed PV illegal, but I believe only to protect people and the integrity of the grid. -A former utility engineer
The goal is to enhance shareholder value. End of story.
Anyway, enhancing shareholder value isn't necessarily at odds with allowing people to generate electricity with distributed solar. You can defer quite a bit of capital expense (e.g. power lines) if the load gets reduced by generation.
Finally, for some regulated utilities, maximizing revenue doesn't mean maximizing profits. Sometimes regulations set the profit, and there are ways to game it that don't involve running the utility as a private-profit-maximizing firm.
Not to mention lumen per dollar increase rate of LED lighting, tablets that consume 4 watts, refrigerators that use half the power of the average installed fridge, etc. The falling prices of solar PV panels has been incredible. Most expected the price of $0.72 per peak watt to be reached in 2028, not 2013.
> Not to mention lumen per dollar increase rate of LED lighting The energy efficiency of LEDs still doesn't beat CFL, except for really really expensive LEDs.