No smoke, mirrors.

June 2, 2005 8:56 AM

Sunlight is escaping many of our neighborhoods! The future home of Teardrop Park South, which will sit in building shadows almost year-round and seemed destined to be the darkest of ... no, wait ... Heliostats!
posted by R. Mutt (11 comments total)

Could they use these to get some light into the White House?
posted by weapons-grade pandemonium at 9:07 AM on June 2, 2005

"Really, they’re nothing more than big Boy Scout signal mirrors, the kind you sort of line up and shine into Bobby’s eyes."
'daylight consultant' - David Norris


"Argh! It burns!
Mom! Davey burned me!"
-Bobby
posted by NinjaPirate at 9:28 AM on June 2, 2005

Where did I recently read that mirror(s) were used on a mountain to extend daylight for a whole town?
posted by weapons-grade pandemonium at 9:34 AM on June 2, 2005

WGP: That sounded familiar (and awesome). I found this.
posted by schustafa at 9:49 AM on June 2, 2005

Right, schustafa, that's it. Still in the planning stages, I guess.
posted by weapons-grade pandemonium at 10:06 AM on June 2, 2005

I actually posted on that...
posted by Specklet at 10:55 AM on June 2, 2005

This is great until a hailstorm cracks the lenses, rendering them practically useless. Howzabout we put more people underground and let what grows naturally on the surface of the earth grow there, or at least seed and sod the tops of buildings, like they do in Detroit, though for completely different reasons.
posted by eclectist at 2:08 PM on June 2, 2005

Brings back fond memories of the Kindergarten Solar-powered Death Squad.
posted by gummo at 2:32 PM on June 2, 2005

Do you honestly believe that nobody thought about how these big mirrors, which were being installed outdoors, would hold up to weather?
Stranger things have happened. Honestly.
posted by dg at 6:57 PM on June 2, 2005

brilliant (heh) post. thanks.
posted by dhruva at 10:39 PM on June 2, 2005

CrayDrugu, "around the world" != America. The US enjoys some of the most extreme weather in the world. I say "enjoys", because I miss it. I haven't seen a good thunderstorm since I left 7 years ago. So, while I see very much the validity of where you're coming from, there is certainly plenty room to wonder.

Meanwhile, I wonder if this technology would be affordable to an individual home owner? Reflect some extra solar heat to my pool and house! This is a lovely house I'm in, but it gets the sun the wrong time of year.

I really look forward to seeing how this is going to look. I've wondered for years why it wasn't being done.
posted by Goofyy at 2:45 AM on June 3, 2005