The study was conducted by MIT Atlantic Richfield Career Development Energy Studies Assistant Professor Jessika Trancik, graduate students William Braff and Joshua Mueller.
The team found that pumped hydro systems can offer added value today for solar or wind installations in Texas.
Excess power in these systems is utilized to pump water uphill to a reservoir for storage. The water is then released via a turbine to generate power when it is required.
The increased revenue the facility can generate, by waiting to sell the power into the grid until spot-prices for electricity would cross the costs of the added storage system.
MIT said a compressed air storage system may also add value comparable to that of the pumped hydro system.
The researchers however note that batteries are attractive because they can be installed anywhere and do not depend on natural features that exist only in certain locations.
The researchers said that much research on storage systems for renewable energy sources focused on using the systems to smooth out the intermittent outputs to better match fluctuating demand.
Trancik said: "Researchers and practitioners have struggled to compare the costs of different storage technologies, because of the multiple dimensions of cost and the fact that no technology dominates along all dimensions.
"Storage technologies can only be compared by looking at the contexts in which they are going to be used."
The study found that regardless of the particular circumstances at a given location, several features of how electricity prices fluctuate are common across locations and do favor certain specific types of storage solutions over others.