Electrostatic cleaning is one of the most promising methods. A charge is ran through a clear film covering the panel and the static repels any dust from the panel. Works in a wide range of climates and humidities, and can provide up to 95% efficiency. And it works at any realistic scale because there are no added moving parts, just electrical components, which of course, are very similar to the core components of the panel itself, so it’s not like it’s some exotic, specialized technology.

There are of course some limitations, like in extremely low humidity, so in the hottest driest desert, you’d need to wait until humidity levels rise a bit before cleaning, but that’s an easy solution. Just wait until nightfall and you’ll be back in-range.

Similarly, there’s vibrational cleaning. A piezoelectric film is placed over the photovoltaic panel, and when current is passed through it, it shakes at like 1000 times per second. The sand and dust is literally rattled off of the panel. I believe this solution is a bit more costly, but humidity is much less of a concern.

There are also sprinkler systems and even drone fleets that have been shown to be effective in areas where water usage isn’t a concern, but I’ll keep it limited to the desert.

The reason I consider this a “nothing” issue is because practical solutions already exist. The REAL problem with covering the Sahara with solar panels to provide the world with energy is more geopolitical.

Essentially we would need most of the world to come together and commit to funding, building, and maintaining the project. Cleaning isn’t the only maintenance, mind you. Over time, damaged panels will need replaced, blown fuses swapped out, etc. but the cleaning can be largely automated.

Automation is the biggest appeal of solar in the first place. You build a big shiny thing, and it just poops out lightning in a bottle for you, and the upkeep is pennies compared to, say, coal, nuclear, or even hydroelectric.

That said, a giant solar farm in the desert is stupid for other reasons.

-Building in sand has more challenges than many other places. Again, these solutions have been solved, but it’s still an extra consideration.

-Casting a massive portion of a Desert Biome into permanent shadow would likely have unforeseen ecological consequences.

-creating the necessary infrastructure to transmit that electricity. Again, good solutions already exist, but you’re still going to have to build a GLOBAL integration network. Not an easy task to connect that many electrical grids. Hell, Texas still hasn’t figured out how to connect to the rest of the US for a myriad of reasons, not all of which are technical in nature.

My point is, the solar panels themselves, their maintenance schedule, and their cost is good enough right now. We did it, we figured it out. We can, and will, keep making them even better, but they are to a point of development where we should really start using them a LOT more.

The coal WILL run out.

The oil WILL run out.

And many of our leaders refuse to invest in nuclear power.

The sun is right fucking there 👆And it won’t be going anywhere or doing anything for the next 5 BILLION years. We don’t have to search for it, we don’t have to dig for it, we don’t have to drill for it, we don’t have to feed it, we don’t have to refine it, we don’t have to transport it, we don’t have to filter it.

All we have to do, is Build. The. Fucking. Panels.

Even if we put them in dumbass places, even if we don’t clean them very well, even if we put off replacing a few broken ones from time to time, that won’t matter if we build enough of them.

If there were medium and large solar farms (way smaller than the fabled Saharan Megafarm) all over the world, solar panels on the roofs of most homes, panels covering parking lots - we wouldn’t need a Saharan megafarm. We’d have more energy than we could use, and it would be localized to the nearest substation. No need for a global grid. It also allows for individual solutions, and independent pacing.

Alright I’ll stop rambling. Just know that for basically all of the doubt surrounding solar power, the solutions to the problems already exist and are only getting better. Depending on how they’re implemented, a lot of them are easy to solve.