Mirrors solve town's lack of winter sun

The sun has stopped shining in the Austrian town of Rattenberg, but mirrors could do the trick.

Sun is plentiful only 10 minutes' walk away at Rat Mountain, the 910m hill that blocks the town's sunlight in winter.

The solution: 30 heliostats (basically, rotating mirrors) mounted on a hillside to grab sunshine off reflectors from the neighbouring village of Kramsach. And the cost: about €2 million ($3.4 million).

Bartenbach Lichtlabor, the Austrian company behind the idea, has already used mirrors to light European railroad stations and to illuminate mosques in Saudi Arabia.