VOA慢速英语2016 利用大窗户吸收太阳能（在线收听）

Large Windows Could Capture Solar Energy 利用大窗户吸收太阳能

Solar cells have been around since the 1950s. But now there is a race to develop transparent solar cell that can cover windows of buildings and still capture the sun’s light for electricity.

太阳能电池自20世纪50年代以来就已经存在。但是现在有一场开发能够覆盖建筑物的窗户并能吸收太阳光来发电的太阳能电池的比赛。

Different kinds of light from the sun

太阳中的不同种类的光

There are three kinds of light that reach our planet from the sun. They are ultraviolet light, or UV, visible light, and infrared light. Together they make up what is called the solar spectrum.

太阳有三种光能够到达地球。紫外线、可见光和红外线。他们一起组成了所谓的太阳光谱。

Troy Townsend is a solar cell researcher at St. Mary's College of Maryland.

特洛伊·汤森是马里兰圣玛丽学院的一个太阳能电池研究员。

He says working with the transparent solar technology for windows means you cut the efficiency in half. That is because you are letting visible light—light you can see—pass through the solar cells instead of capturing and using that light to make electricity.

他说在窗户上使用透明的太阳能技术意味着效率将减少一半。那是因为你让可见光——你可以看见的光——进入太阳能电池而不是捕获和使用光来发电。

That leaves only light from the ultraviolet and infrared parts of the light spectrum to make electricity.

这使得仅仅光谱的部分紫外和红外光发电。

He spoke to VOA via Skype.

他通过Skype接受美国之音采访。

“One of the major challenges with transparent solar cells is developing a system that would allow you to absorb the maximum amount of UV and the maximum amount of infrared.”

“透明太阳能电池的主要挑战之一是开发一个系统，允许你吸收的最大紫外线和最大数量的红外光。”

Because glass absorbs UV light, Townsend says the efficiency will drop even more, if the solar cell is on the inside of the window. But if the cell is put on the outside of the window, it could capture the light before it goes through the glass.

如果太阳能电池在窗口内部的话，因为玻璃吸收紫外线，效率将会下降更多，汤森说。但如果把电池放在窗户的外面，它可以在光线穿过玻璃前捕捉光线。

That would require the cell to be protected from the elements of heat, moisture, and cold. Townsend says the trick would be to find a clear material that would cover the cell—and still let the light come through.

这需要电池被保护不受热量、水分和寒冷等因素的伤害。汤森说，诀窍是找到一个明确的材料来包裹电池却仍然让光线通过。

Developing Photovoltaic Cells for Windows

为窗户开发光伏电池

Several colleges and private laboratories are working to develop photovoltaic compounds that could be applied to windows. They would be transparent, which means, you can see through them. So they would be able to collect the sun's energy without blocking the view through the window.

一些学院和私人实验室正在努力开发可以应用到窗口的光伏化合物。他们将是透明的，这意味着，你可以看透他们。所以他们能够不受通过窗口视图的阻碍收集太阳的能量。

SolarWindows Technologies in Maryland says it has developed an efficient transparent solar cell. John Conklin is head of the company.

在马里兰州SolarWindows科技表示，它已经开发了一种高效透明的太阳能电池。约翰·康克林是该公司的主管。

“We have actually taken a technology, organic photovoltaics, and innovated it into transparent technology, applied it to window glass and turned a passive window into an active electricity generating window.”

“我们实际上采取了一种技术，有机光伏，并改造为透明的技术，它适用于车窗玻璃并能够把被动的窗口转变为一个活跃的发电窗口”。

Conklin says a solar window can be totally transparent. Or it could be tinted, or colored, which makes it more efficient.

康克林说太阳能窗户可以是完全透明的。也可以是有颜色的，这使得它更有效率。

"We can make the color darker or lighter, or blend the colors to go with the blue-green, a green-grey, a brown, depending on what the architect, the building owner or the building developers is looking at.”

“我们可以使颜色变深或变浅，或青蓝、灰绿、棕色等混合颜色，这取决于设计师、业主或建设开发人员的想法。”

Conklin says his company is working with the U.S. Department of Energy to test and develop the technology. And he plans to have a commercial-ready product by the end of 2017. If he is successful, Conklin says his electricity-making window could pay for itself in one year.

康克林说他的公司正在与美国能源部合作测试和开发这项技术。他计划在2017年年底前开发商业准备的产品。如果他是成功的话，康克林说，他的制电窗口可能会在一年内收回成本。

According to a 2012 survey, there are 5.6 million commercial buildings in the U.S. They have more than 8 billion square meters of windows. Even if only a part of that glass could collect power from the sun, it could greatly lower the need for polluting fossil fuels.

根据2012年的一项调查显示，在美国有560万个商业建筑。他们有超过80亿平方米的窗户。即使只有一部分玻璃可以收集来自太阳的力量，它也可以大大降低对造成污染的化石燃料的需要。

Words in This Story

transparent – adj. something that you can see through

efficient – adj. capable of producing desired results without wasting materials, time, or energy

photovoltaic – adj. generating electricity directly from sunlight by a an electronic process naturally occurring in semiconductors

innovate – v. to introduce as if new

architect – n. a designer of buildings

potential – adj. capable of becoming real

renewable energy – n. energy that is collected from resources which are naturally replenished, like sunlight, wind, rain, waves

fossil fuels – n. energy sources from fossils that include oil, coal and natural gas that are non-renewable