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Solar farms
太陽能發電廠
Blue steel
藍色的鋼鐵海洋
British fields adopt a new crop
英國大地上種起了新“莊稼”
Let's take it to Spain
我們把它搬去西班牙吧
TWO nuclear bombs are among many curious machines which the Science Museum stores at an old airfield in Wiltshire. An early hovercraft stands with a fleet of submersibles and a truck that once roamed the Antarctic. Now a new acquisition is on the way. Around the runway workers are preparing to lay out 155,000 solar panels—at about 170 acres, one of the biggest solar farms in Britain.
科學博物館將許多稀奇古怪的機器儲藏在位于威爾特郡（Wiltshire）的廢舊機場里，這其中就包括兩枚核彈。還有一艘早期的氣墊船，一排潛水器，和一輛曾經馳騁于南極洲的卡車。現如今，一項新的收藏將要加入它們的行列。工人們準備在跑道的周圍搭建155,000張太陽能板。該工程占地約170英畝，將有望成為英國最大的太陽能發電廠。
Though Britain's hillsides are peppered with wind turbines, solar panels produce less than half of one percent of its power. Racing to hit a European target that requires it to generate 30% of its electricity from renewable sources by 2020, the government wants a lot more. Gregory Barker, an energy minister, says the solar industry could expand sixfold within a decade. Laid on the ground, that many panels would fill an area of about 150 square miles.
盡管不列顛的山坡上布滿了用來風力發電的風輪機，并且其發電量差不多是太陽能板發電量的兩百多倍。然而面對亟待實現的目標，英國政府還有很長的路要走。歐盟已設定了目標：截至2020年，歐盟成員國30%的電力供給要來自可再生能源。能源部長格雷戈里·巴克爾（Gregory Barker）說，在未來的十年內太陽能行業將擴展六倍。若將如此多數量的太陽能板平鋪開來，它們將覆蓋150平方英里的區域。
Fields full of solar panels are less obtrusive than hillside turbines, and simpler to install. Whereas opposition to wind power is mounting, about 85% of Britons back new solar projects. Big arrays may even encourage some kinds of wildlife, for example by sheltering ground-nesting birds.
布滿太陽能板的區域看上去并不會如山坡上的風輪機那樣突兀，并且太陽能板安裝起來也比風輪機更簡單。相比于風力發電受到越來越多的反對，新的太陽能項目卻獲得了大約85%的英國人的支持。大范圍地鋪設太陽能板甚至有利于某些野生動物的生存。 例如一些筑巢的鳥類將其作為遮蔽隱藏之所。
It is also getting cheaper. The cost of installing solar panels has fallen by half since 2010 due to heavy deployment in Germany and elsewhere. Weak British sunlight makes energy from solar farms about 25% more expensive than from onshore wind turbines—and more than twice the wholesale price of power—but the government expects a 20% reduction by 2020.
此外，利用太陽能發電也變得越來越便宜了。由于德國以及其他一些國家強化部署發展太陽能產業，自2010年以來，安裝太陽能板的成本已經降低了一半。英國較弱的光照條件使得來自太陽能的電力要比近海風力發電所產生的電力貴25%，電力批發價格方面前者更是后者的兩倍多。然而，英國政府預期，到2020年太陽能電費將降低20%。
Solar companies say ministers must do more. Planners, fearing eyesores, are growing less co-operative (complaints from rural campaigners are holding up the Science Museum's array). Grid connections are getting more expensive as developers choose sites ever farther from big towns. The biggest fear is of government backsliding. In January ministers said they will soon require solar farms to bid against onshore wind projects for some subsidies.
太陽能公司認為，部長們需要有更大的作為。由于擔心影響美觀，規劃師們越來越不合作（來自鄉村的反對者們的抱怨阻礙了科學博物館的部署）。因為開發者們選址離大城鎮越來越遠，并網的成本也越來越高。最令人擔心的是政府再次犯錯。今年一月曾有部長表示，政府將要求太陽能發電廠以投標的形式來與近海風力發電項目競爭政府補貼。
Yet caution is wise, for two reasons. First, hefty investment in sunnier countries means the price of panels will keep falling without much help from British taxpayers; government cash might go much further in a year or two. Asian competition means Britain's firms are unlikely to become successful solar manufacturers, no matter how much money is thrown at them.
然而基于兩方面的理由考慮，謹慎行事才是明智之舉。一方面，光照充足的國家向該行業注入巨額投資意味著：即使沒有英國政府的資金投入，太陽能板的價格將會持續下跌。或許未來一兩年投入政府資金會帶來更深遠的影響。亞洲競爭者注定了英國公司無法在太陽能制造業上取得成功。這一點，無論英國人砸多少錢進去也無法改變。
Second, the price of solar panels reflects only part of the technology's costs. Panels produce very little power during winter; in summer they can generate too much. The National Grid, which manages Britain's power-transmission network, says that a big solar programme would mean finding extra cash to mitigate these swings in supply. A preponderance of panels is already making it difficult to build more farms in the sunny south-west.
另一方面，太陽能板的價格僅僅反映了一部分該項技術的成本。太陽能電池板在冬天的發電量很低，而夏天又能產生大量電能。經營英國輸電網絡的英國國家電力供應公司（The National Grid）稱, 實施大型太陽能供電項目將意味著同時需要尋求額外的資金投入來中和這種電力供應上的波動。在陽光燦爛的西南地區，漫山遍野的太陽能電池板幾乎已經布滿了整個區域。人們很難再找到余地去建造更多的太陽能發電廠。
If Britain is serious about hitting its legally-binding target for renewable generation, more solar seems inevitable. But the roofs of offices, factories and warehouses are the best places for it. Putting panels there lowers energy bills for businesses while placing less strain on local grids. That seems a brighter idea.
如果英國真的打算實現具有法律約束力的可再生能源電力供應目標，尋求更多的太陽能發電似乎不可避免。然而，或許辦公室、工廠以及倉庫的房頂才是太陽能電池板最好的安家之處。這樣做能夠在降低商業用電費用的同時減輕地方電網的負擔。這似乎是個更明智的主意。譯者：邵靈玲 校對：衛婷婷
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