Too bad they are effectively hardscaping an environment in the process. We should have tried to put solar on all the flat roofs in California before we started developing on and changing the ecology of less disturbed areas. There are so many of these large flat roofs in socal alone that industrial cities like Vernon stand clear as day from space with the glowing white roofs. What a missed opportunity. Not to mention the plethora of flat sunsoaked roofs on socal apartments and even flat topped single family homes which also stand out on satellite views. And the parking lots too.
Yes to all of that, when houses are being built. But if you want solar to be cost-effective and to slow down the course of catastrophic climate change then we need to build vast amounts of it as possible as cheaply as possible. And doing that means building at utility scale with as little labor as possible, and adding solar to tiny rooftops is exactly the opposite of that.
The rooftops of some of these industrial properties are massive, over a half dozen acres sometimes. If they are just placing them on the desert floor I’m not sure that placing them on a flat warehouse roof wouldn’t be about the same process. Plus you wouldn’t be degrading the desert, you’d be improving Vernon and other places like it.
I'm curious about the claim that the panel can be installed on ungraded ground. What kind of slope are we talking about? Would it make sense to dig long shallow trenches and adjacent mounds to orient the panel a bit more toward the sun?
Makes sense. Solar panel costs are negligible compared to the mount/racking costs and labor for installation/cleaning. It's probably worth the efficiency losses.