Slashdot Mirror
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.'"
...I live along the equator where our days and nights ar "equal" throughout the year.
I am glad to live in a place (Central Europe) where there are seasons, and not the same thing all over the year.
I am glad to live in a place (Central Europe) where there are seasons, and not the same thing all over the year.
As someone who spent the first 20 years of his life in an area without significant seasonal changes and the next 20 years in areas with major seasonal changes I can definitely say that seasons are vastly overrated.
Having near perfect weather every day is about the least horrible curse I can think of.
When information is power, privacy is freedom.
As someone who spent the first 20 years of his life in an area without significant seasonal changes and the next 20 years in areas with major seasonal changes I can definitely say that seasons are vastly overrated.
Having near perfect weather every day is about the least horrible curse I can think of.
Except that being next to equator does not guarantee "near perfect weather". Plenty of friends from places close to equator just say "back home we carried an umbrella every day even if it only rained once a week, because when it did it was pouring really hard.
And to further counter your example, the more artistic oriented among those friends, even after years of being in a place with significant seasonal changes really appreciate contrast of green summer bursting with activity and people vs the white winter of cold and quiet. Different people for different things, I guess.
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
A scientist or engineer that can't handle common unit conversions is an unemployed scientist or engineer.
The article is from a US website intended for a US audience, and uses US measurements. I don't expect a news aggregator to do extra work because you're lazy.
The article states that the project cost is only about $850k, mostly provided by private donations. The tracking motors will be solar-powered. So, for a modest outlay of capital today, they get ample, high-quality, non-polluting light for next to nothing for the life of the system. Any idea what a stadium lighting system costs? How about the cost of electricity and replacement bulbs to keep it operating for 8-16 hours a day, five months out of the year, for decades? Mirrors on a heliostat is not a boondogle, it's proven technology. And, in this case, probably cheaper than the alternative.
30C (86F) is stifling heat? We laugh at that in the Northern US. 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. (OK, you'd have to talk 95F to 104F, since they would mostly just look at you funny and wonder what planet you're from if you talk Celsius.)
Precisely. It'd be much easier to just destroy the mountain than this silly idea. I think Russia has some pretty big nukes.
The city planners should have thought about this before deciding to put the town there. Now they're having to use public money to fix their short-sightedness!
Oh the horror! Using public money for public good! You'd almost think they formed a government and collected taxes to serve the people.
Your tea has steeped way too long son.