文章大意:这是一篇说明文。本文主要讲述康奈尔大学的一项新研究,在气候变化带来的威胁中,在太阳能农场上种植经济作物是一种潜在的有效利用农业土地的方法,既可以增加商业粮食产量,又可以提高太阳能电池板的性能和寿命。
In the threatening trouble of climate change, growing commercial crops on solar farms is a potentially efficient use of agricultural land that can both increase commercial food production and improve solar panel performance and longevity(寿命), according to a new Cornell research.
“We now have, for the first time, a physics-based tool to estimate the costs and benefits of co-locating solar panels and commercial agriculture in terms of increased power conversion efficiency and solar-panel longevity, ” said lead author Henry Williams, a doctoral student in Cornell Engineering.
“There is potential for agrivoltaic (农业光伏) systems-where agriculture and solar panels coexist-to provide increased passive cooling through taller panel heights, more reflective ground cover and higher evapotranspiration (蒸散) rates compared to traditional solar farms,” said Max Zhang, professor in the Sibley School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, “We can generate renewable electricity and conserve farmland through agrivoltaic systems.” In New York, for example, about 40% of solar farm capacity has been developed on agricultural lands, while about 84% of land suitable for solar development is agricultural, according to a previous research study from Zhang’s group.
The engineers showed that solar panels mounted over vegetation reveal surface temperature drops compared to those built over bare ground. Solar panels were mounted 4 meters above a cotton crop and the solar panels showed temperature reductions by up to 10 degrees Celsius, compared with those mounted a half-meter above bare soil.
“As you decrease the solar panel operating temperature, you can increase efficiency and improve the longevity of your solar panels, ” said Williams, “We’re showing double benefits. On one hand, you have food production for farmers, and on the other hand, we’ve shown improved longevity and improved conversion efficiency for solar developers.”
“Up to this point, most of the benefits from agrivoltaic systems have been around areas with abundant sunshine, ” said Zhang, “This research is taking a step toward evaluating the application of agrivoltaics in climates representative of the Northeastern U. S. in relaxing the land-use competition it faces.”
12. What does the new Cornell research convey?
A.Growing commercial crops can relieve climate change. |
B.It’s costly to improve solar panel performance and longevity. |
C.Commercial agriculture can increase power conversion efficiency. |
D.The coexistence of solar panels and commercial crops is mutually beneficial. |
13. Why does the author list the figures in paragraph 3?
A.To show the promising future of agrivoltaics. |
B.To indicate the lack of solar farms in New York. |
C.To tell agricultural lands are based on solar farms. |
D.To demonstrate agricultural farms are more developed. |
14. What can be inferred from the last paragraph?
A.The Northeastern US is rich in agricultural lands. |
B.Hot climate zones are ideal for developing agrivoltaics. |
C.The research made a breakthrough in land-use competition. |
D.The application of agrivoltaics in Northeastern US proved practical. |
15. Which is a suitable title for the text?
A.Approaches to Tackling World Climate Change |
B.Methods of Increasing Agricultural Production |
C.Agrivoltaics Have Been Well Received in the US |
D.Growing Crops at Solar Farms Generates Higher Efficiency |