Norwegian town finally sees the sun – with mirrors

Norwegian town finally sees the sun – with mirrors

After more than a hundred years in winter darkness, the small Norwegian town of Rjukan realises a 100 year old idea which brings the sunshine back to the small town. The dark Norwegian town has gone to desperate measures and installed three giant mirrors to reflect the sun and bring sunshine back down to the town.

The innovative installation will be opened 31 October, exactly 100 years after the
 dea first was launched in the local newspaper. 

Due to the high mountains surrounding the valley, among them the famous Mount Gausta 1883 meters above sea level, the Norwegian town Rjukan, deep in the narrow vestfjord valley in Telemark, do not see the sunlight during six months of the year (September to March). This winter the darkness comes to an end as the town installs three giant mirrors (total of 50 square meters) to reflect the sun and bring sunshine back down to the town square, at the most covering 600 square meters.

The idea of a sun mirror was launched in 1913 by Sam Eyde. He saw the importance of
giving his workers the opportunity to experience the sunlight during the winter months. The sun mirror did not see its completion for over hundred years after the initial idea, but Sam Eyde successors managed to build a gondola up the mountain so that Rjukan´s inhabitants could see the winter sunshine.

Today´s technology has made the original idea possible: to bring the sun to the people of Rjukan. A computer-driven heliostat, placed at the top of steep mountain wall 400 meters over the town will capture the sun´s rays and direct them into Rjukan´s center. The three heliostats consist of computer-driven mirrors that follow the suns movement over the horizon and will reflect its rays into Rjukan´s market square.  The total cost for building the Solspeil is 5 million NOK, equivalent to about
£500 000.