It’s
said that great minds think alike ……and all that jazz!
I’m
of course referring to the world first official Roadway that’s capable of generating
Solar Power located in the town of Krommenie, in the Netherlands, the country
of the little Dutch boy as reported in the article “Solar
road opens in the Netherlands”, published November 13, 2014 By Susanna
Capelouto, CNN.
The
roadway, a 70.1m (230") bike path built at a cost of US$3.75 million (€3
million), is located in that town developed by Netherlands’ TNO Research
Institute as detailed in “World's
First Solar Cycle Path Installed In Amsterdam”, published November 6, 2014
by Justine Alford, I Fucking Love Science,
is really a set of square Solar panels embedded in concrete and covered by a
thin layer of tempered Glass.
The
tempered Glass is treated so that it’s skid resistant and shatter-proof, even
if a heavy load of large boulders is dropped on it. In short it’s just as tough
a concrete road, with a slight tilt being built in the road so as to allow
water to run off as well as to maximize incident Solar radiation.
The
Solar Power generated can be used for such things as Powering streetlights,
melting the snow during winter and even Powering homes that lie along the
roadway. Netherlands’ TNO Research Institute plans to expand the concept over
the next three (3) years with an extension to 100m (328”) in 2015 enabling it
to power up 2 or 3 houses!
Interestingly,
according to Dr. Sten de Wit, up to 20% of the Netherlands’ 140,000km of road
could be converted to Solar Roadways as noted in the article “World's
first Solar cycle lane opening in the Netherlands”, published Wednesday 5
November 2014 10.45 GMT by Philip Oltermann, The UK Guardian.
So
basically, all of the Netherlands can come off the Netherlands Power Grid by
making all pathways, Roads and Flat Parking Lots Solar Powered. Somehow I don’t
think the Netherlands Power Utility Company will like where this idea is headed
in the next three (3) years!
Netherlands 70.1m long Solar
Powered Bikepath - A three year Crib of the Brushaw's Solar Roadways minus the
fancy LED's
On
hearing that, it sounds a lot like Electrical Engineer Scott Brusaw and his
wife Julie Brusaw's Indiegogo-funded Solar Roadways, but a lot less
sophisticated as noted in my blog article
entitled “The
Brusaw's Solar Roadways score US$1 million on IndieGogo and US$750,000 from US
FHA - Powering Roadways one Parking Lot at a Time”.
Good
to note that this is an indication of how forward-thinking the EU Nations are
in general when it comes to Alternative Energy.
The
Town of Feldheim whose Solar, Wind and Biogas Energy Power Company
Energiequelle allows the town to stay off the German Power Grid readily comes
to mind as an example as noted in my blog article
entitled “Energiequelle
gets German Village Feldheim off the Grid - How Wind, Solar and BioGas Powered
Feldheim shows how Renewables can help Jamaica”.
Jamaica and Solar Powered
Streetlights - Where is Jamaica on plans to Power Streetlights with Solar
Panels and Wind Turbines
The
Netherlands is testing out a concept over the next three (3) years that can potentially
make Fossil Fuel Power Stations obsolete. Meanwhile the US FHA (Federal Highway
Administration), oddly, has been testing out the Brusaw's Solar Roadways since
2011 in a parking lot with no long term commitment announced.
More
interestingly, where is Jamaica on the use of Solar Power and possibly mini-wind
turbines on a large scale to Power Streetlights to reduce the wastage of Power
due to streetlights till using incandescent Halogen Bulbs and having faulty
Photocell.
More
recently the JPS Co (Jamaica Public Service Company) and the CMI (Caribbean
Maritime Institute) collaboration to retrofit streetlights in the Rockfort
Community, the Harbour View Roundabout and the road to Port Royal comes readily
to mind as noted in my blog article
entitled “JPSCo
and CMI to retrofit Streetlights with LED Lightbulbs - Fixing Day Burning
Streetlights as Ban on Incandescent Bulbs needed”.
Green
Energy RG had begun in January 2013 as a project to retrofit 5000 Streetlights
across the Island as reported in my blog article
entitled “Green
Energy RG installing 5000 Solar Powered LED Streetlights in Jamaica - Local
Government's the Gangster Squad from West of Memphis towards a more Energy
Efficient GOJ”.
But
as I’ve not heard much progress since then on streetlights, it's possibly been shelved
in favour of other projects. Still, it would be interesting to see if the idea being
tested over the next three (3) year in the town of Krommenie in the Netherlands
will shine a path towards a Renewable Energy solution to our current Global Energy
Crisis.
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