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Clean energy

清潔能源

Let the sun shine

讓陽光普照大地

The future is bright for solar power, even assubsidies are withdrawn

盡管補貼不再，太陽能的未來一片光明

FORTY-FIVE minutes west of Las Vegas, dejected sinners may encounter a sight to lift theirsunken hearts: a sea of 347,000 mirrors, reflecting the rays of the desert sun on to boilersmounted on three 460-foot towers. The Ivanpah solar-thermal plant (pictured), which openedin mid-February, is the largest of its kind in the world. Fully ramped up, it will deliver around 377megawatts (MW) of power to 140,000 homes in southern California. Its backers compare it tothe nearby Hoover Dam; an astronaut claims to have spotted it from the international spacestation. It is a striking sight, even if the heat from its heliostats has roasted dozens ofunfortunate birds alive.

距拉斯維加斯45分的地方，心情沮喪的罪人會看到一幅能照亮他們沉沒的心的奇觀—34.7萬面鏡子組成的海洋反射著沙漠太陽的光至三個高達460英尺的塔上的熱水器。于二月中旬開始運行的伊凡帕太陽能熱電廠(如圖所示)是目前世界上最大的太陽能熱電廠。開足馬力，該電廠能為加利福尼亞南部14萬居民提供377兆瓦的電力。其支持者將它比作附近美國最高的水壩胡弗水壩。甚至有宇航員說他能在國際空間站找到這個太陽能熱電站。盡管電站的定日鏡反射的熱量硬是將數十只活生生的飛鳥烤熟了，這依然是一道令人嘆為觀止的風景。

Solar power in America is growing rapidly, albeit from a small base (see chart). Last year itrepresented 29% of new electricity capacity, behind only natural gas at 46%. Solar output hasmore than doubled during Barack Obama's time in office; GTM, a research firm, reckons it willgrow another 26% in 2014. The Department of Energy wants solar to provide 27% of America'selectricity by 2050, up from less than 1% today.

雖然太陽能在美國起點低(見下面圖表)，但發展迅捷。去年太陽能發電占新增電力的29%，僅落后于占46%的天然氣發電量。既奧巴馬上任以來，太陽能的產出翻了不止一番。全球決策大本營這個調查機構稱太陽能發電在2014年將新增26%。美國能源署希望太陽能發電能夠由目前提供的不足1%的電力發展到能夠在2050年前提供美國27%的電力。

Though dazzling, Ivanpah and large plants like it will not generate much of this growth. Thefederal loan guarantees that allowed their creation have expired. More important arephotovoltaic solar cells, a rival technology that converts sunlight directly to electricity. Theircost has fallen so quickly that in many places retail electricity customers are saving money byplacing panels on top of their houses or businesses; 200,000 have done so in the past twoyears. And there is a lot of room to grow. “There's no market saturation in any state; not evenclose,” says Lyndon Rive of SolarCity, a solar-installation firm. Even David Crane, the boss ofNRG, co-owner of Ivanpah, says that photovoltaic installations are the future.

盡管目前風頭正盛，伊凡帕以及像它一樣的大公司卻不能從這樣的增長中獲益太多。因為作為用于保障他們創造的聯邦貸款到期了。更重要的是光電太陽能電池，它是一種關鍵的技術能直接將太陽光轉化成電力。由于該產品的價格急速下跌，許多地方的零售電力的客戶將太陽能板安裝在他們的屋頂或廠房房頂來發電來節省開支。過去的兩年已經有20萬人這么做了，并且其增長的空間很大。來自太陽城一家太陽能設備安裝公司的Lyndon Rive稱“目前不管在哪個州，都沒有市場達到飽和，甚至是接近飽和。”甚至作為伊凡帕共有者的NRG能源電力的 David Crane也聲稱未來是光伏發電裝置的天下。

Last year sun-soaked California accounted for over half of America's new photovoltaicinstallations. That, say solar fans, shows that the sector can thrive even after it loses itssubsidies. (The $2.2 billion California Solar Initiative, which gave cash to homes or firms thatwent solar, has largely expired.) Solar is also blossoming in unexpected places likeMassachusetts and North Carolina.

去年，飽受太陽炙烤的加州，其新增的光伏發電裝置安裝的數量超過整個國家數量的一半。太陽能的支持者稱這表明即便沒有補貼，太陽能發電也會前途無量。(加州太陽能計劃得到22億美元的補助，用于補貼那些使用太陽能的家庭和公司，如今這一補助絕大部分已到期。)此外，在人們想不到的像馬賽諸塞州和北卡羅來納州這樣的地方太陽能發電也如花般綻放。

A bigger test will come in 2017, when the federal government's solar-investment tax creditdrops from 30% to 10% (unless Mr Obama can convince Congress otherwise). Still, saysShayle Kann at GTM, this will be no “death knell”; it will simply eliminate some marginalprojects. And by then there may be a revival of Ivanpah-style solar-thermal plants, as energy-storage technologies improve and utility firms look to them to provide steady powerthroughout the day.

更為嚴峻的挑戰將在2017年拉開序幕。那時，聯邦政府的太陽能投資稅收抵免將由現在的30%驟降至10%，除非奧巴馬總統能夠說服國會不這么做。即便如此，GTM調查機構的Shayle Kann 聲稱，這也不是太陽能 發電的“死亡鐘聲”，而僅僅是終止一些邊際項目。隨后，隨著儲能技術的發展以及公共事業公司采用這一技術為全天提供穩定的電力，像伊凡帕這樣的太陽能熱電站還會再次興盛起來。

Yet even if solar power is a boon to consumers, it threatens some utilities. Energy hastraditionally been generated centrally, distributed over power lines and sold to consumers.Distributed solar power—generated from rooftop panels—undermines that model (see article).The Edison Electric Institute (EEI), a trade group, warns that distributed generation could do toenergy companies what the internet did to newspapers.

但是，盡管太陽能電力對消費者有利，它卻威脅到其他的公共事業。傳統的能源供應是集中式的，通過電線輸送到用戶家中。分散的太陽能電力是通過人們屋頂的太陽能板發電的，將會顛覆這一傳統模式(見文章)。貿易集團愛迪生電力協會警告稱，分散發電對能源公司的沖擊就如同互聯網對新聞報紙產業的沖擊一樣。

Bet your bottom dollar

賭上所有的身家

Regulations are adapting to this shift: all but seven states have adopted net-metering policies,which credit solar-enabled homes and businesses for the excess energy they feed back intothe grid. At least 22 states allow consumers to buy the electricity produced by solar panels thata third party installs on their homes. This lets people take advantage of solar's savings withouthaving to pay the hefty up-front installation costs. In 2013, third-party-owned systemsaccounted for most solar installations in California, Arizona, Colorado and Massachusetts.

立法正在適應這一轉向：除了7個州以外其他各州都頒布了電價扣減政策，允許安裝了太陽能的家庭和企業在太陽能自足之后將多余的電并入電網。至少22個州允許消費者購買第三方安裝在他們屋頂的太陽能電池板產生的電。這使得人們不用支付高額的前期安裝費用就能享受到太陽能帶來的實惠。2013年，第三方太陽能系統覆蓋了加州、亞利桑那州、科羅拉多州及馬薩諸塞州太陽能安裝業務的幾乎全部的份額。

Some utilities grumble that customers who benefit from net metering escape the costs ofmaintaining the grid they depend on. Last year Arizona Public Service, the state's biggestelectric firm, urged regulators to slash the savings that new solar customers would derive fromnet metering. After a fierce campaign their call was rejected, though the regulator approved asmall solar surcharge. Georgia Power also proposed a fat tariff; it too was defeated.

某些公共事業單位抱怨從電價扣減政策中獲益的消費者逃避用于維護他們賴以為繼的電網的費用。去年，亞利桑那公共服務公司，蓋州最大的電力公司敦促監管者嚴厲批評新增的太陽能電力消費者通過電價扣減政策而得到的儲蓄。經過激烈的爭奪，盡管監管者比準了小額的太陽能額外費，他們的呼聲最終被駁回。佐治亞電力公司也建議要加重賦稅，但也被駁回。

Julia Hamm of the Solar Electric Power Association identifies three ways regulators could helputilities cope with these changes. First, they could demand monthly infrastructure fees fromsolar users. Second, they could list every component of value separately rather than wrappingthe cost of infrastructure maintenance, for instance, into usage charges. Third, they couldsplit energy used and consumed into separate transactions, meaning that a solar customersells all his energy to a utility before buying what he needs.

美國太陽能電力協會的Julia Hamm 提出三種解決方案幫助公共事業公司面對當前的變化。第一，公共事業公司每月向太陽能使用者收取基礎設施使用費。第二，單獨列出每個組件的價值而不是將基礎設施維護費均攤到電價中。第三，他們可以將使用的能源和消耗的能源分開處理，即太陽能消費者將其生產的電賣給公共電力公司然后再向他們購買他們需要的電。

Yet those last two proposals leave unanswered the question of what rate utilities should paycustomers for their power—or more broadly, what the price of solar, with all externalitiesfactored in, ought to be. And more battles loom; California's regulator must make an importantdecision on net metering this month. Further ahead the growth of distributed solar will poseother threats to the utilities' traditional business model. “Net metering is just the pointy edgeof the wedge,” says Adam Browning of Vote Solar, an advocacy group.

然而后面的兩個提議依然沒有解決公共電力公司應該按照什么樣的比例購買消費者家多余的電的問題，或者更明確的說，考慮到所有的外部因素，太陽能電的價格應該怎樣確定。這一問題似乎一直都若隱若現。這個月，加州的監管者必須就電價扣減這一問題作出重要的決定。分散的太陽能發電的進一步發展將會對公共電力公司傳統的商業模式構成其他威脅。“電價扣減僅僅只是楔子最尖銳的部分(電價扣減只是利用太陽能問題中最尖銳的問題，還有其他的問題)”擁護太陽能的 Adam Browning 如是說。

Still, while user-generated solar power makes utilities skittish, many have rushed to embrace iton the supply side. In 2013 they installed roughly 4,100MW of solar capacity, up from2,390MW in 2012. Renewable portfolio standards, which in 30 states force utilities togenerate a certain share of their electricity from clean sources, are part of the reason. But sois hard economics: low installation and labour costs, clean power delivery at peak midday hoursand a hedge against fuel-price volatility.

盡管用戶產生的太陽能電力讓公共電力公司憤怒，許多人依然會擠著去供應自家發的電。2013年人們安裝的太陽能發電板所發的電量由2012年的2390兆瓦上升到4100兆瓦。可再生能源發電配額制，30個州要求公共電力公司生產一定份額的清潔能源電力是人們蜂擁安裝太陽能電池板的原因之一。對于理性的經濟而言也是如此：安裝費用低，人力資源消耗低，在中午用電高峰期輸送清潔能源以及可以抵御波動的石油價格。

Many of these gains have already been banked. Photovoltaic modules have become slightlydearer lately; costs will rise further if the Commerce Department heeds protectionist calls bysome domestic manufacturers and expands tariffs on imports from China and Taiwan. Yet solarfirms are not short of ideas to cut costs elsewhere: third-party financing, for example, orsecuritising pools of solar leases to reduce financing costs. For makers and users of solarpower, the future looks bright.

這些收益都已經存入銀行。近來光伏模塊價格稍有上漲。如果商務部注意到國內生產商的貿易保護電話并且加重從中國和臺灣進口光伏模塊的關稅，安裝太陽能板的成本將進一步上漲。然而太陽能公司有的是辦法從其他方面削減成本：第三方融資，比如說對太陽能租賃的抵押來降低融資的成本。對制造商和用戶而言，太陽能的未來前途璀璨，一片光明。

1.compare to 比喻為;比作

例句:Shall I compare you to a summer's day?

我可以把你比作夏天嗎?

2.claim to 聲稱

例句:That year, at the request of Qatari nobles, theBritish negotiated the termination of the Al Khalifaclaim to Qatar.

同年，應卡塔爾貴族的要求，與英國人談判終止了Al Khalifa對塔爾的要求。

3.even if 即使

例句:Everbridge allows single entities to send thousands of messages at the push of a button,even if cell towers are down.

在某個單位要進行預警時，只需要通過Everbridge按一個按鈕，就可以發送出數千條信息，哪怕通信基站出現故障時也能使用。

4.natural gas 天然氣

例句:Japanese researchers working for the government were the first to tap natural gas fromseabed methane hydrates this March.

今年三月份，為日本政府工作的研究人選率先從海底的甲烷水合物中提取天然氣。