How Giants Mirrors Will Bring Winter Sunlight To A Norwegian Town For The First Time

The Mirror Project/VisitNorway.comGiant mirrors placed high on the side of mountains will reflect sunlight into Rjukan's main square.

Rjukan, a small town in Southern Norway, does not receive any sunlight during the winter between September and March.

The former industrial center is surrounded by high mountains that block the sun from striking the valley floor.

But with the help of giant mirrors, installed on the side of mountains to reflect sun down into Rjukan's main square, the town's 3,000 inhabitants will be able to soak up the winter sun for the first time in history.

"The square will become a sunny meetingplace in a town otherwise in shadow," a webpage devoted to the project writes.

WikipediaRjukan's center does not receive sunlight during the winter because it's sandwiched between steep slopes.The Mirror Project was suggested by a Norwegian engineer at least century ago, according to The Daily Mail, but the city's planners decided to build a cable car instead.

Vast technical advances over the last 100 years have made the project more feasible. The town finally decided to funnel about $825,000 into the mirror system, which is currently being installed high in the mountains using helicopters.

The mirrors are equipped with sensors and automatically adjust to follow the sun, The Independent reports.

The project should be complete by end of July, but the first proper test will come this September before the start of the longer winter.