I have the same qualm about the lack of utility of Paladins so here's my suggestion.. A few people mentioned something along these lines already with the Bulwark idea but I think this would be a great use of that stored energy..

1650 Divine Orb Fusion (Or a cooler synonymous title)

This would be an equivalent skill or spell to that of the Sorcerer’s necrotic energy that would allow the class to transform or fuse items with skill enhancements into a fusion orb. The obvious purpose of the orbs would be used in fusion items.
My thoughts are that Paladins would use their fully bonded weapon to store the energy, using the same T1 – T5 system to store energy with each kill. At each level Tier the Paladin would be able to fuse a certain level of item depending on how high of skill the item adds or based upon what level a character must be to use the item and be able to obtain the given skill. Therefore the more skill added to a stat or skill bonus, the higher the Tier must be to transform the orb. A T5 fusion could be used to fuse two orbs into one, this would obviously offer the most risk and reward.

As far as functionality, the idea of the spell would work such that a Paladin would be able to summon the support if their diety by KNEELing and PRAYing a specific prayer much like in 1620 that would drive some awesome messaging involving causing the Paladin to be overcome with divine energy while pointing your bonded weapon to the sky and a divine connection that would be made that would pass through the weapon and ultimately be channelled onto the item causing the item to be transformed into an orbed state.. I suppose in order to check the level of energy stored you would cast 1650 at the item or perhaps the orb prep prayer would give you a message indicating its status and your ability to fuse the item?

I believe a great use of lores would be that a paladin will need increased training in Summoning lore in order to increase the chance of a successful call upon their chosen diety in order to obtain the intervention, and possibly training in Blessing or Religion lore would be used to insure a successful cast of the spell upon the orb. Again, the idea works the same as a sorcerer’s ensorcell however the difference is not to incorporate more magical skills into the class like MIU or whatnot, but to use the lores, SMC, and weapon use of the class to fulfill the function of the skill.

Final thoughts, I know that orbs are a huge plus to the special merchant system and I believe that events wouldn’t be hindered by this .. instead of everyone running to toss in their items to turn to orbs, people would be lining up to try and get their armor or weapon infused with slots for orbs. Enhancive items would be a lot higher demand and it would be a great addition to the overall gameplay and a huge plus to the Paladin class.