英语杂谈：57 Germany Wins Solar-House Battle

(So we can take the solar sunlight, right? create heat force, retain and save in this tank and store.)

20 homes soak off the sun’s rays on Washington D.C.’s National Mall. They need all the energy they can get to power everything from ventilation systems to home entertainment centers. It’s required in the recent Solar Decathlon(十项运动) sponsored by the US department of energy.

“The Solar Decathlon is a competition for university schools of architecture and engineering to design, from the ground up, a solar-powered, high-efficiency, self–sustaining house.”

Take water from the ground at 40 to 50 degrees.

Over several days, student teams are judged across 10 events from design to whether the house would sell in the house market. The winning house was created by Team Germany. The Team Germany home is covered in thin solar panels¹, giving the house a shiny black appearance with a twist.

“We have photovoltaic panels(光伏板) across all sides of the house, and in between as a design, second design element, we have colorful acrylic（丙烯酸）pieces to kind of open the house up. We lovingly call them sun freckles².”

The design-to-construction process takes 2 years, this is the 4th Solar Decathlon and the next one will be held in 2011.

(Good morning, good morning!)

The event draws around 100,000 visitors to the national mall where students show up their designs while making the pitch for energy-efficient technologies like solar and using recycled goods for building material.

All 20 homes will live on. Some are headed back to university campuses for housing and research. Others will be donated for use of various organizations and two are for sale.

 

1 panels   

镶板( panel的名词复数 )； 面； （门、墙等上面的）嵌板； 控制板

参考例句：

• One of the glass panels in the front door was cracked. 前门的一块方玻璃破裂了。
• Make sure the panels are treated with a wood preservative. 确保镶板用木材防腐剂处理过。

2 freckles   

n.雀斑，斑点( freckle的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• She had a wonderful clear skin with an attractive sprinkling of freckles. 她光滑的皮肤上有几处可爱的小雀斑。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• When she lies in the sun, her face gets covered in freckles. 她躺在阳光下时，脸上布满了斑点。 来自《简明英汉词典》