华盛顿低收入家庭获得太阳能

AS IT IS 2015-09-28 Solar Power Free to Low-Income Homes in DC 华盛顿低收入家庭获得太阳能

Solar panels are an increasingly common sight on the tops of homes in wealthy parts of Washington, D.C. Now the costly¹ technology is moving into a poorer area of the city. And, the people who live there are getting the panels for free.

Southeast Washington D.C. is an area known more for low-income housing than new technology. But several homes in Southeast now are topped with solar panels.

Tila Felder is among those who have received solar panels for her home. She praised the lower energy costs.

"I am very excited. My electric bill has really dropped. The last few months it's been $40 per month [compared to] $200 a month."

Local officials make these solar panels available to residents whose yearly earnings³ are at or below $50,500 for a family of three. A family of four can make up to $60,000 a year and qualify for the panels.

Ted² Trabue is with the local government program, DC Sustainable Energy Utility. He says they plan to put solar panels on hundreds more homes.

"We're doing about 135 this year; next year the goal is 200. We've been able to hit ours goals every year for the last four years. In the years after that, the funding looks secure. I see no reason why we shouldn't be able to do more like 250 homes."

Atta Kiarash installs solar-equipment. He says he will set up as many as 1,200 solar panels this year. That is not a high number compared to states like California. But Mr. Kiarash and other Washington officials believe the number of installed panels could double by 2016.

"Most of the time; most of our clients hear (of) us through word of mouth, through other jobs we've done in the past or through existing clients, and what they do is they reach out to us and we do the income qualification and we come out and do a site visit and make sure that they qualify. And if they qualify, we just put them on our construction schedule and we get the job started.

The program is paid for with fees from factories and oil processing centers for their carbon dioxide emissions⁵. Government officials expect millions of dollars in savings⁶ as the solar panels become more popular. They believe energy subsidies⁷ to poor families will be cut and electric costs will go down. They add that new jobs will be created.

Edwin Amaker also lives in Southeast Washington. He is pleased with the 16 new solar panels on his roof.

"Well, I was told that I would save between 30-40 percent which is major, you know, when you start talking about the price of energy nowadays. So I like that; the less money out of my pocket, the more money I have for the family."

Washington officials hope to start a program next year to help small businesses install solar panels on their buildings. They hope to turn the nation's capital into an environmentally-clean solar city.

Words in This Story

solar panel – n. a large, flat piece of equipment that uses the sun's light or heat to create electricity

install – v. to make a machine, a service, etc. ready to be used in a certain place

client – n. a person who pays a professional person or organization for services

construction – n. the act or process of building something (such as a house or road)

schedule -– n. a plan of things that will be done and the times when they will be done

emission⁴ – n. something sent out or given off

subsidy⁸ – n. money that is paid usually by a government to keep the price of a product or service low or to help a business or organization to continue to function

1 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。

2 ted   

vt.翻晒，撒，撒开

参考例句：

• The invaders gut ted the village.侵略者把村中财物洗劫一空。
• She often teds the corn when it's sunny.天好的时候她就翻晒玉米。

3 earnings   

n.工资收人；利润，利益，所得

参考例句：

• That old man lives on the earnings of his daughter.那个老人靠他女儿的收入维持生活。
• Last year there was a 20% decrease in his earnings.去年他的收入减少了20%。

4 emission   

n.发出物，散发物；发出，散发

参考例句：

• Rigorous measures will be taken to reduce the total pollutant emission.采取严格有力措施，降低污染物排放总量。
• Finally,the way to effectively control particulate emission is pointed out.最后，指出有效降低颗粒排放的方向。

5 emissions   

排放物( emission的名词复数 )； 散发物（尤指气体）

参考例句：

• Most scientists accept that climate change is linked to carbon emissions. 大多数科学家都相信气候变化与排放的含碳气体有关。
• Dangerous emissions radiate from plutonium. 危险的辐射物从钚放散出来。

6 savings   

n.存款，储蓄

参考例句：

• I can't afford the vacation,for it would eat up my savings.我度不起假，那样会把我的积蓄用光的。
• By this time he had used up all his savings.到这时，他的存款已全部用完。

7 subsidies   

n.补贴，津贴，补助金( subsidy的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• European agriculture ministers failed to break the deadlock over farm subsidies. 欧洲各国农业部长在农业补贴问题上未能打破僵局。
• Agricultural subsidies absorb about half the EU's income. 农业补贴占去了欧盟收入的大约一半。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 subsidy   

n.补助金，津贴

参考例句：

• The university will receive a subsidy for research in artificial intelligence.那个大学将得到一笔人工智能研究的补助费。
• The living subsidy for senior expert's family is included in the remuneration.报酬已包含高级专家家人的生活补贴。