The Mirrors That Brought Winter Sunshine to a Norwegian Town

For generations, residents of the Norwegian town of Rjukan had to live through long winter months without direct sunlight reaching the town centre.

Surrounded by steep mountains, Rjukan sits in a deep valley where the low winter sun cannot reach the streets for several months of the year. In 2013, an unusual idea finally changed that.

Three enormous computer-controlled mirrors were installed high on the mountainside above the town. Their job was simple but remarkable: follow the movement of the sun and reflect its light down into Rjukan’s main square.

The idea was not entirely new. More than a century earlier, the possibility of using mirrors to bring sunlight into the valley had already been imagined. But the technology needed to make the plan practical did not exist at the time.

When the mirrors were switched on in October 2013, sunlight was reflected onto the town square for the first time during the dark winter season. Local people gathered to experience the unusual sight.

The project was developed by artist and inventor Martin Andersen, who had become increasingly aware of the lack of sunlight while taking his young daughter for walks through the valley.

The three mirrors, each measuring 17 square metres, were positioned about 450 metres above the town. Together, they created a concentrated patch of sunlight in the centre of Rjukan where residents could gather and enjoy the light.

The invention became more than an engineering project. For local people, the reflected sunlight created a special meeting place and offered a small but meaningful connection with something they had spent much of the winter without.

More than a decade later, the story remains an unusual example of how a simple idea, combined with modern technology, can change the experience of everyday life for an entire community.

Source: BBC World Service, Witness History