家用太阳能促使净能的使用

Solar Home Tour Promotes Clean Energy Alternative

家用太阳能促使净能的使用

 

Last year solar energy surpassed wind power as the fastest growing alternative energy source in the world. While solar products account for only a tiny fraction of the electricity produced in the United States, new federal legislation coupled with state programs are helping¹ to promote growth in the industry.

 

Each year, thousands of Americans get a chance to explore solar alternative in the National Solar Tour. This year, energy efficient homes and buildings in hundreds of communities across the United States were open for public view.

 

Twenty-five years ago, Michael and Virginia Spevak built a new home on an empty lot in Washington. They wanted a house that got its energy from the sun. Mrs. Spevak says the open floor plan promotes natural heating and cooling.

 

Mrs. Spevak: The floor is dark quarry² tile, which helps absorb the heat from the sun in the winter, and it reflects back into the house at night. The walls are light colored, which helps reflect light, so we don't need as many lights on. The windows are mostly on the south and there is a two-foot (610 millimeter) overhang so that when the sun is high in the sky in the summer the house is shaded by the overhang in the winter the sun is coming.

 

Other features include bookcases and quilts against the walls to provide added insulation³. The Spevaks also have a solar water heater and they recently purchased photovoltaic panels for their roof. The house is connected to the local electric grid⁴, but the family gets a credit from the power company for the energy they produce.

 

Mrs. Spevak says the house has been good to the environment and to their pocketbook.

 

Mrs. Spevak: The hot water clearly has paid for itself probably two or three times over by now. And, the photovoltaics we didn't really expect to get the payback, but we decided⁵ that it was worth it to decrease the carbon dioxide and all the other things that it would be worth it.

 

Mrs. Spevak says their commitment to energy efficiency has not meant a major change in their life-style.

 

Mrs. Spevak: You have a lot of choices when you try and have a more energy efficient house. You can have a house that basically does everything itself and you don't even know that you have a house any different from any other house. We decided that we didn't mind doing a few simple things, and so our house even if we did nothing and someone moved into this house they could do fine without doing anything and it would be more energy efficient than most houses, but there are things that you can do to make it work even better.

 

Close to 90 visitors toured the Spevaks' home on the 2005 Solar Home Tour. Many -- drawn⁶ by rising home heating and cooling bills -- wanted to see the energy saving technologies in action.

 

While the Spevak house is the exception rather than the rule among American homes, some state and local jurisdictions⁸ offer grants and tax incentives⁹ to homeowners for the purchase of renewable or energy-efficient products. More than 20 states require utility companies to get a portion of their electricity from renewable sources.

 

But Peter Lowenthal says that is not enough. He heads the Solar Energy Industries Association in Washington, a local sponsor of the 2005 Solar Home and Building Tour. While he applauds the solar tax credit in the new energy bill, he says the law falls short of what the solar industry needs to grow a market for its products.

 

Peter Lowenthal: Unfortunately the credit only lasts for two years. Of all the tax credits that were passed in the energy bill, unfortunately ours (the solar power industry) are short lived. So we have a significant battle to try to extend them for more than five years because for the business community to go into investing into developing the market and ramping¹⁰ up manufacturing and establishing dealer¹¹ networks across the country is an expensive process and for a two-year window that is not a very good choice.

 

Mr. Lowenthal says greater price incentives and increased consumer awareness¹² about energy-saving alternatives will help lower the nation's power bill and reduce its dependency on fossil fuels that pollute the environment.

 

I’m Rosanne Skirble.

 

注释：

fraction [5frAkFEn] n. 小部分

quarry tile 大铺地砖

quilt [kwilt] n. 棉被

insulation [7insju5leiFEn] n. 绝缘

photovoltaic [7fEutEuvCl5teiik] 光电的

jurisdiction⁷ [7dVuEris5dikFEn] n. 权限

dealer [5di:lE] n. 经销商

1 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

2 quarry   

n.采石场；v.采石；费力地找

参考例句：

• Michelangelo obtained his marble from a quarry.米开朗基罗从采石场获得他的大理石。
• This mountain was the site for a quarry.这座山曾经有一个采石场。

3 insulation   

n.隔离；绝缘；隔热

参考例句：

• Please examine the insulation of the electric wires in my house.请检查一下我屋子里电线的绝缘情况。
• It is always difficult to assure good insulation between the electric leads.要保证两个电触头之间有良好的绝缘总是很困难的。

4 grid   

n.高压输电线路网；地图坐标方格；格栅

参考例句：

• In this application,the carrier is used to encapsulate the grid.在这种情况下，要用载体把格栅密封起来。
• Modern gauges consist of metal foil in the form of a grid.现代应变仪则由网格形式的金属片组成。

5 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

6 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

7 jurisdiction   

n.司法权，审判权，管辖权，控制权

参考例句：

• It doesn't lie within my jurisdiction to set you free.我无权将你释放。
• Changzhou is under the jurisdiction of Jiangsu Province.常州隶属江苏省。

8 jurisdictions   

司法权( jurisdiction的名词复数 )； 裁判权； 管辖区域； 管辖范围

参考例句：

• Butler entreated him to remember the act abolishing the heritable jurisdictions. 巴特勒提醒他注意废除世袭审判权的国会法令。
• James I personally adjudicated between the two jurisdictions. 詹姆士一世亲自裁定双方纠纷。

9 incentives   

激励某人做某事的事物( incentive的名词复数 )； 刺激； 诱因； 动机

参考例句：

• tax incentives to encourage savings 鼓励储蓄的税收措施
• Furthermore, subsidies provide incentives only for investments in equipment. 更有甚者，提供津贴仅是为鼓励增添设备的投资。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

10 ramping   

土堤斜坡( ramp的现在分词 )； 斜道； 斜路； （装车或上下飞机的）活动梯

参考例句：

• The children love ramping about in the garden. 孩子们喜欢在花园里追逐嬉戏，闹着玩。
• Have you ever seen a lion ramping around? 你看到过狮子暴跳吗？

11 dealer   

n.商人，贩子

参考例句：

• The dealer spent hours bargaining for the painting.那个商人为购买那幅画花了几个小时讨价还价。
• The dealer reduced the price for cash down.这家商店对付现金的人减价优惠。

12 awareness   

n.意识，觉悟，懂事，明智

参考例句：

• There is a general awareness that smoking is harmful.人们普遍认识到吸烟有害健康。
• Environmental awareness has increased over the years.这些年来人们的环境意识增强了。