The 910 metre (2986 feet) Stadtberg mountain blocks low winter rays from reaching Rattenberg from November to February, but this year locals are hopeful that sunlight will soon be reflected in from beyond their dark valley.

The pionneering project to overcome this natural disadvantage involves a series of around 60 computer-guided solar relectors, known as heliostats, to bounce the sun's rays over points on the mountain and onto the village's streets and rooftops.

"A heliostat, a device invented in the 19th century, captures the sun's rays and sends them to a fixed point," said Markus Peskoller, head of the "Bartenbach Lichtlabor" project at a laboratory specialised in light in Aldrans, west Austria.

The laboratory is working with national and European funding for a project costing the equivalent of Rattenberg's annual budget of two million euros (2.4 million dollars).

It is a worthy cause, said Franz Wurzenrainer, mayor in the village of 467 inhabitants. "We have to keep our population," he said.

The winter shade has driven 10 percent of inhabitants out of the village in the past five years, as well as discouraging tourists, locals say.

"We launched this slightly crazy project in 2003 when a study showed that one villager in five claimed to be depressive because of the lack of winter sun," Wurzenrainer said.

Local doctors in this mountainous region are familiar with the symtoms of seasonal affective disorder caused by a lack of light.

"They are characterised by extreme sadness accompanied by tiredness, sleeping problems and the feeling of being good for nothing," said Dr Franz Schwanitz, a psychologist at Innsbruck university.

Many locals complain of such problems.

"In winter, I no longer want to do much," said Johann Arzberger, a wood sculptor who works in the village's main street.

A feasibility study is now in place for the pioneering project that has no guarantee of actually working.

"The technical constraints are enormous," said Peskoller. "For this to work, the mirrors must be absolutely flat so that the sun's rays are always reflected on the same point."

Around 30 heliostats are due to be set up for the project in the neighbouring village of Kramsach, that has plenty of winter sunshine, by the first half of 2007.

Locals are eagerly watching developments.

"With this system, tourists will come en masse, even if it's only to see how it works," said Leopold Kisslinger, who has one of the village's six glassworks.

"Glass has always saved Rattenberg," he said.

All rights reserved. � 2005 Agence France-Presse. Sections of the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the content of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presse.

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