Town in Norwegian valley is set to get winter sunlight for the first time in its history… using giant MIRRORS

A gloomy Norwegian town will receive its first ever rays of winter sunshine this year after locals set up giant mirrors to bounce light down from the mountainside.  


The industrial town of Rjukan is nestled deep in a valley floor in the rugged Telemark county and with the sun moving low across the sky during winter, it gets no direct sunlight between the months of September and March.

For years the sun-starved locals have had to take a purpose-built cable car to the top of the mountain side in order to catch a few winter rays.
The plant's founder, celebrated Norwegian engineer and industrialist Sam Eyde was concerned his workers weren't getting enough sunshine during the winter months.

He considered the mirror idea but felt they lacked the technology to make it work so opted instead for the construction of a cable car.


Rjukan is situated in Norway's rugged Telemark county


In 2006, a similar project was successfully set up in the village of Viganella in northern Italy which had suffered from exactly the same problem.

A delegation from visited Viganella to see how their mirror had transformed people's lives, and was suitably impressed.  


After five years of debate, Rjukan town council finally agreed to invest the necessary 5 million Norwegian kroner (£544,000) to build the mirrors. 


They are controlled by computer to follow the path of then sun, adjusting to the best angle to ensure the town square is bathed in light.

Solar panels will power equipment to automatically wash the mirrors and move them into position. 


Designers hope the sunshine will revitalise the town during the winter months. 

A message on the Rjukan tourist website states: 'The square will become a sunny meeting place in a town otherwise in shadow.' 


According to project coordinator, Øystein Hagan, the construction work is almost complete but it won't be until September, when the sun disappears, that the system can be properly tested.

Eleven Hints for Life

1. It hurts to love someone and not be loved in return.
But what is more painful is to love someone and never
find the courage to let that person know how you feel.

2. A sad thing in life is when you meet someone who
means a lot to you, only to find out in the end that it was
never meant to be and you just have to let go.

3. The best kind of friend is the kind you can sit on a
porch swing with, never say a word, and then walk away
feeling like it was the best conversation you've ever had.

4. It's true that we don't know what we've got until we lose
it, but it's also true that we don't know what we've been
missing until it arrives.

5. It takes only a minute to get a crush on someone, an
hour to like someone, and a day to love someone-but it
takes a lifetime to forget someone.

6. Don't go for looks, they can deceive. Don't go for wealth,
even that fades away. Go for someone who makes you
smile because it takes only a smile to make a dark day
seem bright.

7. Dream what you want to dream, go where you want to go,
be what you want to be. Because you have only one life and
one chance to do all the things you want to do.

8. Always put yourself in the other's shoes. If you feel that it
hurts you, it probably hurts the person too.

9. A careless word may kindle strife. A cruel word may wreck
a life. A timely word may level stress. But a loving word may
heal and bless.

10. The happiest of people don't necessarily have the best
of everything they just make the most of everything that comes
along their way.

11. Love begins with a smile, grows with a kiss, ends with
a tear. When you were born, you were crying and everyone
around you was smiling. Live your life so that when you die,
you're the one smiling and everyone around you is crying.