The original article from Science, published in 2024:

Massive #SolarFarms could provoke rainclouds in the desert

Updrafts from dark solar panels could fuel storms—an alternative to #CloudSeeding

6 Feb 2024

Excerpt: "Branch and his co-authors wanted to see whether solar farms of more realistic sizes could alter the weather. To do so, they turned to a leading weather model, produced by the U.S. National Center for Atmospheric Research, that can account for land surface changes. They modeled the solar farms as nearly black fields that absorbed 95% of the incoming sunlight. When the solar farms exceeded 15 square kilometers, they found, the increased heat absorbed at the surface, contrasted with the relatively reflective sand surrounding them, appreciably increased the updrafts, or convection, that drive cloud formation.

"Just hacking convection wasn’t enough, however: A source of atmospheric moisture is also needed. The model showed that moist, high-altitude winds from the Persian Gulf would suffice. When conditions were ripe, the model found, a 20-square-kilometer solar field would increase rainfall by nearly 600,000 cubic meters—equivalent to 1 centimeter of rain falling across an area the size of Manhattan. If such rainstorms occurred 10 times in one summer, they would provide enough water to support more than 30,000 people for a year.

"The new work makes sense, and it’s 'very stimulating,' Lu says. 'They are targeting a real solution.” One concern, however, is that the simulated solar panels were darker than most manufacturers make them. Some current solar panels are even reflective, designed to cool their surroundings, Lu says.

"Still, Branch is hopeful that the idea could at some point be tested in the real world. Solar farms coming online in China and elsewhere are nearly big enough, he says. If they were built in the right spots, it wouldn’t take much to darken the panels as much as possible, and to plant drought-tolerant darkening #crops, such as jojoba shrubs, between panel rows."

Read more:
https://www.science.org/content/article/massive-solar-farms-could-provoke-rainclouds-desert

#SolarPunkSunday #SolarFarms