GIANT MIRRORS SHED WINTER SUNLIGHT ON NORWEGIAN TOWN OF RJUKAN

Three giant mirrors have been builthigh on the mountainside above the Norwegian industrial town of Rjukan.

They have been erected to shed somesunlight on a town known for its winter darkness. The mirrors have beeninstalled on the mountain wall about 450 metres above the town’s market square.

Each one measures 17 square metres –that’s 51 square metres in total to catch the sun’s rays and reflectthem down on to Rjukan in an elliptical shape of about 600 squaremetres.

The reflected light will be between80 and 100 percent as bright as direct sunlight.

“It’s important to have the sun inthe winter time and in this town we don’t have the sun for six months of theyear. People up here want to have the sun. We take the mirrors and reflect thesun down to us. It’s a crazy idea but it’s funny and I think the people likeit,” explained Oystein Haugan, the sun mirror project manager.

The mirrors are controlled by acomputer to follow the path of the sun, adjusting to the best angle to ensurethe town square is bathed in light. The idea is not new. It was first suggestedin Rjukan 100 years ago and, in 2006, a similar project was successfully set upin the village of Viganella in northern Italy.

Local people seem to have embracedthe new scheme.

“They say ‘hurrah’, this is a niceidea. Now we have the sun reflected down to the town square people are cominghere, they’re taking pictures, they’re laughing and having a good time,” saidproject manager Haugan.

Solar panels will power equipment toautomatically wash the mirrors and move them into position. Designers hope thesunshine will revitalize the town during the winter months.