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Norwegian Town Using Sun-Tracking Mirrors To Light Up Dark Winter Days
oritonic1 writes "During their long, cold winters, the Norwegian town of Rjukan doesn't enjoy much by way of daylight—so the town (population 3,386), installed three giant sun-tracking mirrors to shine a steady light over a 2000 square foot circle of the town square. From Popular Mechanics: 'Call it a mood enhancer. Or a tourist attraction. But the mirrors, which will be carried in via helicopter, will provide an oasis of light in an otherwise bleak location at the center of the 3500-population town.
Three mirrors with a total surface area of about 538 square feet will sit at an angle to redirect winter sun down into the town, lighting up over 2150 square feet of concentrated space in the town square. A similar idea exists in the Italian village of Viganella, which has used brushed steel to reflect light since 2006.'"
It didn't work out well in Lord Parker's 'Oliday.
...I live along the equator where our days and nights ar "equal" throughout the year.
Trouble is that most Europeans I have met on my travels think it's hot hot hot at the equator, which isn't the case. In fact, their summers, which are responsible for some deaths among the elderly and young ones, are way hotter than the hottest day at home.
When I say this, they won't believe it until I remind them that we are at a higher elevation which is cooler...just like the clouds.
The exact opposite or Mr. Burns?
What makes a circle of a diameter of about 15.5 meters.
"It occurred to me that you wouldn't live near perpetual darkness, if you people would MOVE WHERE THE SUN SHINE IS!!!"
... a 2000 square foot circle of the town square ... ... about 538 square feet ... up over 2150 square fee
This is slashdot science ?
Besides, the slashdot summary is ambigous : it mentions a population of 3,386, but in which unit ? Number of legs ?
Why not a ballon, of the size of a giant hat, make of a tinfoil? If would need to be tilted somewhat, and turn itself towards the sun -- easy in the case of a ballon. Would not it be much cheaper? Of course, tinfoil does not have the directionality of a glass mirror, but make the hat big enough and it would not be a problem, and even be a feature -- the more ambient light would not decrease the iris size so much, and thus a human would perceive the lighted area as even more bright.
u got the long cold summers . but at least you can build house out of ice .
"It occurred to me that you wouldn't live near perpetual darkness, if you people would MOVE WHERE THE SUN SHINE IS!!!"
But its nice to go out in the daylight at 11:00 pm in summer.
"It occurred to me that you wouldn't live near perpetual darkness, if you people would MOVE WHERE THE SUN SHINE IS!!!"
But its nice to go out in the daylight at 11:00 pm in summer.
...and besides, perpetual /darkness/ is a bit inaccurate. You do get daylight in Rjukan even in winter, but the town itself is too far down the valley to catch any direct sunlight. All-winter shade would be more accurate.
Couldn't the same setup be used to make steam that could make electric? I think i seen an article of something simuler. Cant remember where/when. Couldn't magnifying glasses do the same also focus light to create steam?
Jack of all trades,master of none
Some people might think it a curse. To them it is home.
much of left-wing thought is a kind of playing with fire by people who don't even know that fire is hot - George Orwell
They make electric 'day' lights you know. Ever been to a sports arena? If they can light an entire football pitch, why not just do this the old fashioned, non-expensive, non-boondogle way? Buy some floodlights and be done with it.
I want to delete my account but Slashdot doesn't allow it.
Rjukan is also the site of the museum of industrial labour, which is located in Vemork. In addition to being a very early heavy water plant which was sabotaged by the Resistance during the second world war to hinder the Nazi nuclear bomb project, it also currently hosts an exhibit of what is probably the world's only remaining Univac 1108 mainframe.
toresbe
Ok so who's going to be the person to set up giant magnifying classes in front of the mirrors?
Because when the town was originally built, the topography was ideal for hydroelectric power generation.
Since this was a good while before the social democrats and organized labour gained any real power, keeping the workers in literal (and not just figurative) darkness was not considered an issue.
(The higher classes were literally so, and did not live in the shade.)
toresbe
Several stationary mirrors-walls with different angles, using pieces of broken mirrors placed into the cement. Sort of mirror mosaic.
Could be built by inhabitants themselves. No need for a million dollars or electricity.
They did this same kind of mirror thing in Rattenberg, Austria a few years back.
Here's the location on google map : https://maps.google.com/maps?q=59.878637,+8.594049&hl=en&ll=59.878795,8.594055&spn=0.009131,0.02959&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=60.116586,121.201172&t=h&z=16
Look at the mountains on both side of the main street with street view, one is blocking the sun in winter and the other is certainly where the mirrors will be.
There was some small town in the mountains that basically got no direct sunlight for such a long period of time.
So they got together and placed some mirrors on the mountain nearby and suddenly the sun existed for many.
I still wonder if it wouldn't be better to do this plus a huge bal above the village specifically created to turn in to a huge artificial sun.
Combined with some pipes, it could also be used for solar power or heating from some of the excess light and the general heating caused by the imperfect reflective material.
And then over time, you could add another mirror, and another, until the mountainside had a bunch of mirrors reflecting light in to this big ball in the sky.
And with a big enough village, you could likely erect many light towers. Overall it would be more ideal than just directly reflecting it over a large area, more so if you do use the power generated for lighting too.
Now we could hack into the controller and reprogram it to direct the sun to a single point and voila! Instant death ray. Might help with the tourist problem.
How does this mirror compare to installing full spectrum lamps to light up the same 2000 sq ft area? Lights could provide extended "days" during the winter months, and could be solar powered from the same mountaintop that houses the mirrors when the sun is out.
You're from Yorkshire?
Funny you should ask. ..... Oh!
Of course in the eyes of some, this should precede watching the second link.
much of left-wing thought is a kind of playing with fire by people who don't even know that fire is hot - George Orwell
Really, a town named Viganella with mirrors all over the place? These jokes write themselves!
until Climate Change is finished. Then we can talk about where is a nice place to live or not. My area promises to be much nicer in the future with less seasonal change than now. I'm looking forward to change.
jsut athnoer menagiensls ltitle psrhae for you to dcoede. Why do we wtsae our tmie dnoig tihs?
Simpsons already did it.
The Christian Right is Neither (Christian nor right). See: Matthew 23, Matthew 25, Ezekiel 16:48-50
that money could have bought dozens of street lamps and paid the electric bill for years
Let's try doing the math.
If they aim those ~500 at a 2000 square foot area, assuming 80% efficiency, the light level will be 1/5 that of full daylight. Over an area about 45 by 45 feet.
Now just the light from the blue sky is about 1/5 of full sunlight, so they're basically doubling the light in one small area.
Somehow that does not impress me, with it's intensity nor its size.
If the mountain is a 2km away the reflection from the mirror is going to be very broad indeed. The sun is a half-degree across, and half-degree times 2km means that the edges of the mirror beam will be about 20 meters wide, nice soft edges and not the harsh ellipse shown. The ends of the ellipse will have edges more like 100 meters wide.
I love Mondays. On a Monday, anything is possible.
Was this plan conceived by an eight year old boy?
There are millions of ants screaming "Never Again!"
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... who thought, after reading the title, that they were going to put mirrors into space? Giant mirrors in geostationary orbit focussing the light onto a small Norwegian town? Now that would be a tourist attraction.
True, it would be a little uncomfortable indoors without A/C or at least good ventilation, but you would have to start talking at least 35C or maybe 40C before making US southerners uncomfortable outside.
That's not necessarily true. Almost all homes and apartments in the South are air conditioned unless you're very poor. That kind of spoils us when it comes to high heat, as I learned when I moved for a few years out to the Pacific Northwest where they don't bother with A/C because it's only really needed in August.
Maybe it's different if you're an outdoors type, but for most of us 40 C is "stay the f--- indoors" weather, especially when humidity is as high as it is in most of the South.
If it's for-profit but free, you're not the customer -- you're the product (e.g., the Slashdot Beta's "audience").
Well Ireland did have a summer for once this year although it's pissing it down at this moment.
At first, I though you wrote "although they're p---ing it down," and I thought, "Man I heard it was a hard drinking culture, but damn..."
If it's for-profit but free, you're not the customer -- you're the product (e.g., the Slashdot Beta's "audience").
"near perpetual darkness" taken from TFA. Their words not mine.