TNO Research Institute 70.1m Solar Bikepath in Krommenie, Netherlands - Solar and Wind Powered Streetlight in Jamaica possible

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.