Fascinating! It seems very far fetched to think this could lead to an ecosystem change, since deserts are very large and can't be covered in solar panels, and even a small layer of topsoil takes hundreds of years to build up.
I wonder if this could be a way to "halt" desert expansion though? Encroaching desertification is a real long-term problem in some places and while planting vegetation hasn't worked, maybe solar could!
Fascinating! It seems very far fetched to think this could lead to an ecosystem change, since deserts are very large and can't be covered in solar panels, and even a small layer of topsoil takes hundreds of years to build up.
I wonder if this could be a way to "halt" desert expansion though? Encroaching desertification is a real long-term problem in some places and while planting vegetation hasn't worked, maybe solar could!
There is an ongoing project to stop desertification in the Sahara that seems to be successful. It involves planting vegetation in a specific configuration: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Green_Wall_(Africa)