The solar farms would decrease reflectivity and wind farms to raise air to a level to help increase air moisture.
Or something like that.
The researchers put their idea to the test in a climate model of wind and solar farms in the Sahara desert. Their vast 3.5 million square miles of simulated energy tech would generate a whopping 82 terawatts of electrical power, far more than the 18 terawatts of total energy the world currently uses. The model incorporated dynamic changes to vegetative cover and showed the renewable energy installation would increase daily precipitation in the Sahara about 150 percent. The model indicated similar benefits would come from renewable energy farms that only covered the northwest quadrant of the desert.
Sahel, an area suffering socioeconomic hardship due to lack of freshwater, would feel the most benefit from such a scheme. Precipitation there could jump up by nearly 20 inches per year according to the model, the scientists report today in the journal Science.
“The extra rain would bring life to this arid region,” said Motesharrei.
More @ Vast Wind And Solar Farms Would Bring More Rain to Africa - D-brief
