The DrsC spent parts of the last two days driving across the Mojave Desert - mile after mile after mile of empty, barren land. In the deserts of the Southwest there are thousands of square miles of unattractive land that nobody uses for anything, nor are they likely to do so.
I suspect most of this land is owned by the federal government. It being desert, the area gets nearly daily big doses of … you guessed it … sunshine. While batteries are impractical, if we could figure out an efficient way to store the power so generated for use at night and on the few cloudy days, covering significant acreage with solar panels could be useful. Some of this has already been done.
Yes, there are some hardy critters that call it home: rodents, lizards, snakes and turtles plus some few predators which feed on same. At least some of these will enjoy the shade photovoltaic panels provide.
