Viganella, Italy is cut off from direct sunlight for 83 days in the winter due to the surrounding mountains, so they set up a giant, computer-controlled mirror on top of the mountainside to reflect the sun’s rays onto the town.

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Viganella, Italy is cut off from direct sunlight for 83 days in the winter due to the surrounding mountains, so they set up a giant, computer-controlled mirror on top of the mountainside to reflect the sun’s rays onto the town.

Amazing - Facts Jun 10, 2018 0 1182 Add to Reading List

Viganella, Italy is cut off from direct sunlight for 83 days in the winter due to the surrounding mountains, so they set up a giant, computer-controlled mirror on top of the mountainside to reflect the sun’s rays onto the town.

Viganella was a comune (municipality) in the Province of Verbano-Cusio-Ossola in the Italian region Piedmont, located about 120 kilometres (75 mi) northeast of Turin and about 30 kilometres (19 mi) northwest of Verbania. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 185 and an area of 13.7 square kilometres (5.3 sq mi).

On 1 January 2016 the municipalities of Seppiana and Viganella merged into the municipality of Borgomezzavalle.

For its extreme landscape position, the town does not get direct sunlight for 83 days per year, between November and January. In November 2006 local administrators set up a giant mirror with adjustable, computer-controlled orientation on the mountainside, consisting of 14 sheets of steel which together are 8 metres (26 ft) wide and 5 metres (16 ft) high. The mirror functions as a heliostat, tracking the sun so that sunlight always reflects onto the town square. The mirror was built at a cost of €100,000, or approximately €540 per resident.

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