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.
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.
... 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 ?
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
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
Don't say that - we love the Norwegian summer. I think most people feel it's the best day of the whole dang year!
(for those who might not have picked up on it: this is largely a joke.)
toresbe
Switch to decaf and chill out. The town is not in perpetual night. At about 60 degrees north latitude, that's impossible. However, because it is situated in a deep valley that runs east-west, it is in the shadow of the surrounding mountains for five months out of the year.
(This I was able to find out with about 30 seconds' research - about as long as it took for you to dismiss these people as idiots and write your short-sighted post.)
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.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0059263/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vemork
Some trivia:
The Vemork factory was placed exactly there because of the optimal conditions for producing hydroelectric power.
It started out fixing nitrogen for fertilizer, but later on was converted to produce heavy water. This is what Hitler needed for the production of a nazi A-bomb.
Both nitrogen fixing and production of heavy water is extremely power consuming.
The factory (and Rjukan city itself) lies so deep within the valley, the Allies considered it near impossible to bomb. They tried, once. The production was considered so important the Allies tried 4 sabotage operations against it.The most famous one, Operation Gunnerside, was made as a film, starring Kirk Douglas: The Heroes of Telemark.
PS: Sorry about the links on top, using a shitty mobile browser.
The city planners should have thought about this before deciding to put the town there.
I can vividly see you confronting the city planners and getting dismissed not only with a nice REJECTED rubber stamp in runic script stamped on your petition, but also with a nice complimentary blood eagle.
Ezekiel 23:20
Do you know how most cities got sited? Availability of water, good harbors (very important historically), workable land and other needed resources.
There is almost never a set of city planners that sit down and weigh all the pros and cons of a location ... they just tend to initially happen as people find what they need and start laying down roots.
If you live in the North, you take what you can get. These guys are just trying to improve a little on that.
Washington DC used to be a malarial swamp and New Orleans is apparently below sea level. Did the city planners do a piss-poor job? Or were there other features that made it desirable?
Nobody comes along and says "we're going to build a thriving city here" -- well, China has apparently done it, and they're empty. I suspect most cities started in a much more random and organic manner.
Lost at C:>. Found at C.