Obviously anyone installing solar farms would have to pay some sort of capital or rental cost for the use of the land there to the relevant government/landowner. Part of the price might be to develop and supply local grids thereby increasing their reliability and sustainability.

It would also make sense to manufacture solar panels locally (to avoid huge transportation costs) and that and their local transportation and installation would generate local employment. So it could be a win win all around.

Over time I would envisage solar farms to spread right across Saharan Africa to maximise generation for a longer period of the day. Depending on transmission costs it would also make sense to complement Saharan solar farms with Namibian ones, which would have their max output in the southern hemisphere summer at a time of max northern winter demand (and vice versa).

Index of Frank's Diaries