No sun? Make it yourself! The case of an Italian mountain village

In the north of Italy, near Turin, there is a miniature village of Viganella with a population of 200 people. It is jokingly called Siberia, because from mid-November to early February, the sun does not look here. The rays simply can't get into the hollow between the mountains where the houses stand. Blogger nathoncharova talks about how the residents solved this problem.

One of the locals suggested installing a huge mirror on the top of the mountain, at an altitude of 870 meters, which would direct the sun's rays to Viganella. We performed the necessary calculations. It turned out that the area of the reflector should be at least 40 square meters. And the cost of the project will be about one hundred thousand euros.

Quite an expensive pleasure for the villagers. But after the media told about the idea, there were sponsors who were ready to allocate funds for the creation of an"artificial sun". Companies from Germany, Switzerland and the USA offered their services for its production. However, patriotic Italians chose a Roman firm. 

A steel sheet with a reflective surface was installed in 2006. It is equipped with a computer control, thanks to which the mirror turns after the sun so that it evenly illuminates the village. Since the "artificial sun" can illuminate no more than 300 square meters, the computer makes sure that all areas of the village are covered with light equally.

The lifestyle of the residents of Viganella has changed. In winter, they are no longer in a hurry to go home after the service in the church, they spend a lot of time on the main square.