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German to English translations [PRO] Tech/Engineering - Energy / Power Generation / Überspannungsschutz
German term or phrase:großflächigen Ausdehnung
Aufgrund der exponierten Anordnung und der ***großflächigen Ausdehnung*** von PV-Anlagen entstehen Gefährdungen durch direkte und indirekte Blitzeinwirkungen. Überspannungen in der PV-Anlage können zu Schäden an PV-Modulen und Wechselrichtern führen. Dies kann schwerwiegende Folgen für den Betrieb der Anlage nach sich ziehen. Zum einen schlagen hohe Reparaturkosten, z.B. die des Wechselrichters zu Buche, zum anderen kann der Anlagenausfall zu erheblichen Ertragsminderungen und damit zu Gewinneinbußen für den Anlagenbetreiber führen.
Explanation: The reasons that PV systems are prone to lightning strikes is that they are high up and have a large surface area. (Note: this is a paraphrase, not a translation of the given text.)
... I'd also thought of "extending over a large/wide area" :-)
Incidentally, this would also be the answer to Ali's last question: "sich über eine ausgedehnte Fläche erstreckende PV-Anlage" = "PV plant/solar farm extending over a large/wide area".
A literal rendering of Ausdehnung, by the way, will not involve "expand" but "extend": "The Development extends over a large geographical area, larger than that of the existing taller infrastructure already present on site." https://infrastructure.planninginspectorate.gov.uk/wp-conten...
RE: "some authors use both expressions simultaneously and/or alternatively"
Yes, I know; that's not good, actually. I don't know what Darin thinks, but "large-scale" should be "large" in most of these instances. I think Oxford explains it best: "- involving many people or things, especially over a wide area large-scale development the large-scale employment of women - (of a map, model, etc.) drawn or made to a scale that shows a small area of land or a building in great detail" https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/englis...
This isn't about large-scale/small-scale, so option 2 is out. Option 1 (many people or things) is fine in combination with project, development, etc. (they do involve a lot of people or things), but it sounds a bit off the mark regarding "area."
Section heading is "unnecessary words." The word "scale" doesn't add anything; as I said to Darin--and both of you seem to agree--"large" on its own is sufficient.
is right by attributing "large area" predominantly to existing PV power plants and "large-scale area" more to PV projects, even there is no much difference and as some authors use both expressions simultaneously and/or alternatively.
@Steffen I did not want any word-by-word translation. Could you please translate "sich über eine ausgedehnte Fläche erstreckende PV Anlage" into English?
I'm not going to provide a word-by-word equivalent because this would go against the very essence of professional translation."Sich über eine ausgedehnte Fläche erstreckende PV-Anlage" was merely meant to be a paraphrase to explain the meaning in the asker's context.
@Steffen Thanks a lot. What do you suggest for the term "sich über eine ausgedehnte Fläche erstreckende PV Anlage" in English? Could you please advise?
You're still interpreting "großflächige Ausdehnung" incorrectly. What it really means in German in this case is "sich über eine ausgedehnte Fläche erstreckend" or "eine ausgedehnte Fläche in Anspruch nehmend" ("ausgedehnt" in the sense of large/extensive, "Fläche" in the sense of [a plot of] land).
... can never replace first-hand knowledge and common sense, which this is all about (rather than "personal opinions"). Any translator relying solely on dictionaries will always deliver a sub-standard job.
@Darin If you can just look at the following dictionaries you can see that Ausdehnung is expansion in English. dict.cc, dict.leo.org, linguee.de und duden.de Thanks.
@Steffen I do not think I am missing anything here Steffen. Thank you for your personal opinion. I still suggest extensive expansion for the translation of großflächige Ausdehnung based on my references: duden, dict.cc, dict.leo.org and linguee.de. These are dictionaries. Thank you again for your personal opinion. I need reliable references to reconsider again your opinion.
I want to take Ali's suggestion seriously and so I am looking for any clues that my initial understanding might be wrong. However, I see nothing in the source text that indicates a change in size or shape, even under the influence of the lightning strike. The mode of the lightning damage is excessively high voltage (Überspannungen), not thermal effects and not physical changes in size or shape.
The source text does not describe or refer to any expansion.
You are totally missing the point here. "Großflächige Ausdehnung" refers to the large/extensive footprint (spread out over a wide area, as Björn put it) of PV systems/solar farms installed on land converted from previous military or landfill use, for instance, whereas "exponierte Anordnung" refers to rooftop PV systems installed at great heights ("high up on the roof" or "exposed" to weather/lightning impact, as it were). In contrast, this is not about material expansion/elongation by any stretch of the imagination.
I am not mischaracterizing anything. What is "sich ausbreiten, verbreiten; räumliche Ausdehnung gewinnen"? It is clear that it is "expansion". That is what I still suggest.
You're seriously mischaracterizing what the writer wanted to say.
It's item 2 in the Duden (see your own link): "sich ausbreiten, verbreiten; räumliche Ausdehnung gewinnen"
You can't just cherrypick dictionary entries to fit your interpretation. Another ex.: "Insbesondere für großflächige Anlagen im unbebauten Gelände stellt sich aber auch aufgrund der Wirkungen auf Freiraumnutzungen und Landschaftsbild die Frage nach der Raumverträglichkeit. Eine regionalplanerische Bewertung ist deshalb aus der Sicht der Planungsgemeinschaft Region Trier notwendig." https://www.plg-region-trier.de/upload/Handreichung_photo_29...
This is about size, i.e., solar farms/fields, nothing more. The risk of lightning strikes increases simply because the systems are out in the open (panels on a field) or high up (rooftop installation).
Referencing thermal expansion would be a serious translation error.
@Björn The "Ausdehnung" and the "ausdehnen" are defined by Duden as follows: https://www.duden.de/rechtschreibung/Ausdehnung https://www.duden.de/rechtschreibung/ausdehnen The first sentence here is about Blitzeinwirkungen = effects of a lightning. Do you mean that heat and thermal expension are not serious effects of a lightning? If you say so, there is nothing to discuss.
"However, this may not necessarily be the case where the PV system is particularly large, where the PV system is installed on the top of a tall building, where the PV system becomes the tallest structure in the vicinity, or where the PV system is installed in an open area such as a field." https://www.bre.co.uk/filelibrary/pdf/rpts/Guide_to_the_inst...
Here's something: "Although the individual turbines may appear to be very small, because wind facilities typically have many turbines spread out over a wide area (the largest wind facilities may cover several hundred thousand acres),..."
Replace turbines with modules. A German example: "Eine PV-Anlage ist durch eine ausgedehnte Gleichstromverkabelung und eine großflächige Ausdehnung, verursacht durch die Module, gekennzeichnet." https://www.elektrofachkraft.de/sicheres-arbeiten/emv-von-ph...
If all else fails, "large" is an option too. I don't like large-scale (which rather applies to projects) and thermal expansion is totally and utterly wrong.
Best
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Answers
6 mins confidence:
large surface area
Explanation: The reasons that PV systems are prone to lightning strikes is that they are high up and have a large surface area. (Note: this is a paraphrase, not a translation of the given text.)
Darin Fitzpatrick United States Works in field Native speaker of: English PRO pts in category: 48