When GTM covered the Energy Storage Association conference in 2011, investor Vinod Khosla described lithium-ion batteries as "toys that can't be deployed at scale" to the 300 attendees.

In 2013, we reported from the ESA show in Santa Clara, Calif. and sensed a shift in an industry that was moving from an R&D mentality to a focus on commercialization and markets.

This year's ESA in Dallas, Texas hosted about 1,000 people confronting the regulatory and financial realities of getting storage on the grid -- another phase in this fast-growing, early-stage market.

Here's a collection of quotes and reports from a small cross-section of the crowd and presenters. (As for Khosla, the more than 100 megawatts of stationary energy storage, much of it lithium-ion, to be deployed in 2015 would appear to sink his claim, never mind the Tesla vehicle fleet and factory.)

***

Grid Edge Live will bring together an emerging ecosystem of power industry thought leaders, including utilities, innovators, regulators and policymakers in San Diego, California from June 23-25. Attendees will discuss and debate the latest issues and opportunities impacting tomorrow’s distributed energy system, and examine the latest trends and innovation happening at the grid edge. Register here.