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Solar Power: Rising to Meet Energy Needs 因应能源需求而兴起的太阳能

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Easy-to-use solar kits shed light on renewable energy  使用便利的太阳能套件为再生能源带来曙光

Tapping the sun’s rays for electricity has remained a small niche in the alternative energy arena. But with industry forecasts showing the market tripling or more over the next decade, Wisconsin’s largest company wants to help shift perceptions so that energy from the sun is cast in a new, and more mainstream, light.

汲取太阳光合作为电力，过去一直只占了替代能源领域的一小块利基而已。不过，由于业界预测显示，太阳能市场将在未来十年内增为三倍或更多，也促使美国威斯康星州规模最大的企业致力于改变外界的认知，好让这种来自太阳的能源得以绽放新光芒，跻身主流能源（译注：cast in a new light 指使人有全新的认识，但词组中的 light 也作为太阳的双关语，一如上段的shed ”light” on [阐明；使明朗化]）。

Johnson Controls Inc. is rolling out new solar kits designed to make it easy for a school district or other customer to add some solar to their energy mix.

「江森自控」公司推出的新型太阳能套件，设计成让学校地区或其他客户很轻易地就能把太阳能并入他们使用的能源中。

“This is our attempt just to take the mystery out of it” for customers, said Don Albinger, director of renewable energy programs for Johnson Controls. “It’s meant to give them their first taste of solar and their first chance to see their utility electric meter spinning in reverse,” he said.

为了客户起见，「我们试图要揭开太阳能神秘的面纱，」「江森自控」再生能源方案主任唐．艾尔宾格表示，「用意是让客户能初尝太阳能的滋味，也让他们能生平头一遭看到自己电表居然会往回头跑」，他如此说道。

The kits will target colleges, school districts and local governments that are looking to showcase their renewable energy efforts.

该公司太阳能套件目标锁定大专院校、学校地区和当地政府等希望能展现出致力于使用再生能源的努力的一些机构。

Leading by example  以身作则

The company is also looking to highlight renewable power at its revamped headquarters campus, where the state’s largest solar-power project has been taking shape over the past year. But what’s buried will also be tapped for “green” power: Underneath the solar field will be a network of geothermal energy field, tapping more than 270 wells that will use ground water to cool and heat the 33-acre campus, said spokesman Dennis Kois.

该公司也希望能突显出，其新翻修的总部场地也使用了再生能源，而这项该规模最大的太阳能方案，在去年具体成形。不过，发言人丹尼斯．柯伊斯指出，地下也同样成为开发「绿色」环保能源的所在：在太阳能场下方，也设有地热能源场网络，辟建两百七十多座井，利用地下水为占地卅三英亩的场地降温或加温。

“This whole place is going to be a showcase for what we can do,” he said. “That’s what it’s all about.” Those wells will be pumping ground water from below the Earth’s surface into heating and cooling systems that will reduce winter heating costs by 29 percent, the company projects.

「整处地方将成为展示我们所长的处所，」他如此说道，「这就是一切努力的展现。」这些井将会从地表下抽出地下水，并灌注到供暖或冷却系统中，该公司预期，此举将有助于让冬季的暖气费用减少廿九％。

单词发音

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solar [ˋsolɚ] adj. 太阳的 relating to the sun

shed light on 阐明，解释清楚 make free from confusion or ambiguity; make clear

alternative energy 替代能源 power obtained from moving water, wind, the sun and gas from animal waste

arena [əˋrinə] n. 活动领域; 舞台

cast (new/fresh) light on something 使某事物清楚些 to provide information that helps people understand something more clearly

roll out something 推出; 开展(launch)  to offer a new product or service to the public

utility [juˋtɪlətɪ] n. 公用事业；公用事业公司

electric meter 电表

revamp [riˋvæmp] v. 改造

take shape 实现, 成形

geothermal [͵dʒioˋθɝm!] adj. 地热的 of or connected with the heat inside Earth

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As part of a renewable energy business launched in 2007, Johnson Controls is attempting to convince its customers across the country to incorporate solar or other types of renewable power when they’re retrofitting an office building or constructing a new factory.

在二００七年推出再生能源事业的「江森自控」，希望能说服全美各地的客户，在翻新办公大楼或建造新工厂时，能把太阳能或其他再生能源并入改造规画中。

With the price of fossil fuels bringing up the price of coal and natural gas, the payback times are shortening for renewable energy projects, experts say.

专家表示，随着化石燃料价格高涨连带使煤和天然气价格也水涨船高，使得再生能源方案回收成本的时程也相对缩短了。

Albinger views renewable energy as a complement to the company’s core business of building efficiency technology that helps reduce energy use. Though retrofits of lighting and control systems and sensors can eliminate much energy use, they can’t eliminate everything, and solar power could be used to reduce reliance on fossil fuels.

在艾尔宾格看来，对该公司致力于降低能源消耗的打造高效能科技的核心事业来说，再生能源可谓相辅相成。虽然更新照明和控制系统及传感器，的确能减少大部分能源的消耗，但却无法把能源消耗减至零，而太阳能可以用来减少对化石燃料的依赖。

“Every energy efficiency project that we’re involved with should have a solar component to it,” he said.

「我们参与的每项节能方案，都必须融入太阳能为组成要素，」他如此说道。

Solar power on the rise  太阳能成长可期

Across the world, solar is on the verge of big growth. A forecast issued in 2008 by Clean Edge, a clean-technology consulting firm, found solar power will grow from a $20 billion industry worldwide in 2007 to $74 billion within 10 years.

在世界各地，太阳能都即将出现大幅成长。据洁净科技顾问公司「洁净优势」在二００八年发布的预测显示，太阳能将从二００七年的两百亿美元产值，在十年内增至七百四十亿美元之谱。

The new headquarters will highlight both renewable energy and energy efficiency. Together the changes are projected to save Johnson Controls 75 percent on its operating costs from the new headquarters, even as the amount of office space on the 33-acre campus nearly doubles. In one building, daylight streams through skylights. A wall of windows has replaced an old design that contained little glass.

新总部将同时强调再生能源和节能，而即使卅三英亩土地上的办公室空间增为近两倍，但所采取的种种变革预期还是将帮「江森自控」在其新总部省下七十五％的营运支出。在一栋建筑里，日光穿透天窗洒落下来，而整墙的玻璃窗也取代了过去玻璃面积较小的旧有设计。

The office feature a system that automatically adjusts lighting levels as the amount of daylight pouring in fluctuates. It also brightens lighting at a workstation when it senses that an employee has entered a work area.

办公室的特色是能自动调控光线明暗的系统，会随着穿透到室内的日光变化而进行微调。这个系统还能在感应到有员工进入办公区域时，立即让工作站灯火通明。

−by Thomas Content

单词发音

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retrofit [ˋrɛtrəfɪt] v. 对……作翻新改进 to replace existing parts with updated parts or systems that were not available when the machine or building was made

payback [ˋpebæk] n. 投资回收率; 偿付期

on the verge of big growth 即将出现大幅成长 at the very beginning of big growth; just about togrow rapidly

on the verge of 接近于…

clean technology 洁净科技 a diverse range of products, services and processes that use less energy, generate less waste, and cause less environmental damage than the alternatives

stream [strim] v. 涌入，涌进；川流不息

skylight [ˋskaɪ͵laɪt] n.（屋顶等的）天窗

pour in 照射进来

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Vocabulary Focus

niche [nɪtʃ] n. 有利可图的缺口，商机 a specialized area that is exactly suitable for a particular thing

renewable [rɪˋnjuəb!] adj. 可再生的 describes a form of energy that can be produced again as it is used

showcase [ˋʃo͵kes] n.【主美】显示优点的东西；供亮相的地方（或媒介）to show the best qualities or parts of something

incorporate [ɪnˋkɔrpə͵ret] v. 包含；加上 to include something as part of something larger

complement [ˋkɑmpləmənt] n. 补充, 互为补充的东西 something that makes something else better or more effective when combining with it

forecast [ˋfor͵kæst] n. 预报，预测，预料 a statement of what is judged likely to happen in the future, especially in connection with a particular situation

fluctuate [ˋflʌktʃʊ͵et] v. 变动 to change or vary, especially continuously

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