This part of the Pyrenees, the Cerdagne plain, has more hours of sunlight than anywhere else in France, so naturally has been used for several attempts to harness the power of the sun. This is a research facility used to test materials at high temperature. The mirrors on the left track the sun as it moves, reflecting the rays onto the large stationary mirror on the right, which reflects and concentrates them onto a furnace the size of a bucket, located in the tall, white building, achieving temperatures of several thousand degrees.
