großflächigen Ausdehnung

08:10 Mar 21, 2019 

... 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".

23:40 Mar 20, 2019 

Something that has a "großflächige Ausdehnung" is something of "large size" or "large dimensions", nothing more, nothing less.

"large-size PV units/plants/fields/systems" appears quite often in this context.

20:41 Mar 20, 2019 

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...

Nuances, nuances.

20:36 Mar 20, 2019 

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."

Also, the Economist Style Guide doesn't like it. See p. 145 at https://bordeure.files.wordpress.com/2008/11/the-economist-s...

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.

Best

20:16 Mar 20, 2019 

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.

13:32 Mar 20, 2019 

@Steffen
I did not want any word-by-word translation. Could you please translate "sich über eine ausgedehnte Fläche erstreckende PV Anlage" into English?

13:29 Mar 20, 2019 

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.

13:26 Mar 20, 2019 

@Steffen
That does not answer my question. Could you please translate "sich über eine ausgedehnte Fläche erstreckende PV Anlage" into English?

13:23 Mar 20, 2019 

See my answer below. Hence, "large-footprint PV systems" or simply "PV/solar farms", which are large/extensive by definition.

13:19 Mar 20, 2019 

@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?

13:13 Mar 20, 2019 

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).

13:12 Mar 20, 2019 

@Steffen Thanks a lot.

13:09 Mar 20, 2019 

... 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.

12:50 Mar 20, 2019 

@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.

12:42 Mar 20, 2019 

@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.

12:39 Mar 20, 2019 

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.

12:29 Mar 20, 2019 

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.

12:06 Mar 20, 2019 

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.

11:37 Mar 20, 2019 

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...

And another one:
http://www.energiewende-naturvertraeglich.de/index.php?id=10...[download]=5131

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.

Best

11:30 Mar 20, 2019 

@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.

11:15 Mar 20, 2019 

"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...

11:14 Mar 20, 2019 

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...

Similar:
"In the renewable energy sector, where small power producers like neighbors with solar panels on their roof can be scattered over a wide area,"
https://www.ge.com/reports/ge-brief-november-8-2018/

"Large systems installed on multiple roofs distributed over a wide area - typically less than 1MW, such as buildings in an educational campus, industrial complex etc."
http://www.preview384892.viamagus.com/blog/Monitoring-Soluti...

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