Could large solar farms in the Sahara Desert redistribute solar power?

Large solar farms in the Sahara Desert could redistribute solar power generation potential locally as well as globally through disturbance of large-scale atmospheric teleconnections, according to simulations with an Earth system model.

Can large-scale solar farms influence atmospheric circulation in the Sahara Desert?

Our Earth system model simulations show that the envisioned large-scale solar farms in the Sahara Desert, if covering 20% or more of the area, can significantly influence atmospheric circulation and further induce cloud fraction and RSDS changes (summarized in Fig. 7) across other regions and seasons.

Could a desert be the best place to harvest solar power?

The world’s most forbidding deserts could be the best places on Earth for harvesting solar power – the most abundant and clean source of energy we have. Deserts are spacious, relatively flat, rich in – the raw material for the semiconductors from which solar cells are made — and never short of sunlight.

Could a greener Sahara have a bigger global effect?

Some important processes are still missing from our model, such as dust blown from large deserts. Saharan dust, carried on the wind, is a vital for the Amazon and the Atlantic Ocean. So a greener Sahara could have an even bigger global effect than our simulations suggested.

Did the Green Sahara increase land monsoon precipitation during middle Holocene?

Sun, W. et al. Northern Hemisphere land monsoon precipitation increased by the Green Sahara during middle Holocene. Geophys. Res. Lett. 46, 9870–9879 (2019).