Create winter sunshine for dark valleys

A dark town in Norway for the first time in its history has received the rays of sunshine this winter when locals install giant mirrors to reflect light from one side of the mountain.

The industrial town of Rjukan is located deep in the valley of Telemark county with rugged terrain and the sun always moves in a very low position in the winter. Therefore, this place does not receive direct sunlight in the months from September this year to March next year.

The fixed glass panels will be installed at the top of a valley side .

For many years, local residents have been hungry for the sun to ride a cable car to the top of the mountain to enjoy some rare sun rays in the winter. However, that situation began to change in the last few weeks as helicopters lifted three giant mirrors, bringing it to a position 450 meters above the town, at the top of the valley slopes.

The above-mentioned glass panels are designed to monitor the sun's movement and reflect light directly into Rjukan town's main square.

. helps reflect sunlight into the square of Rjukan town.

This idea is nothing new. It was proposed by a neighboring hydroelectric plant worker to Rjukan 100 years ago.

The founder of the hydroelectric plant, a well-known engineer, Norwegian industrialist Sam Eyde was very concerned about his workers not getting enough sunlight in the winter months. He considered the idea of ​​installing mirrors to create sunshine but felt lack of technology to make it a reality, so instead promoted a project to build a cable car on the sunlit mountain top.

In 2006, a similar project was successfully implemented in the northern Italian village of Viganella. A delegation from Rjukan visited Viganella to see how the daily glasses had transformed the lives of locals and were impressed with what was observed.

The project to install the sun glasses that reflect sunlight has been successful in Italy in 2006.

After 5 years of controversy, the Rjukan town council finally agreed to invest 5 million krone needed (nearly 832,000 USD) to build giant mirrors. These regular glass panels operate under computer control, always adjusting the best reflection angle to ensure the town square is always flooded with light.

Solar panels will power the device to automatically clean the sheets of glass and shift them to the correct position. The design team hopes, sunlight will revitalize the town of Rjukan in the winter months.

According to project coordinator Oystein Hagan, the construction of the glass project is nearly complete but still incomplete until September, when the sun disappears and engineers can check the operation of the system in a way full.