[Ekaros]

Or maybe more traditional approach of greenhouses? Which should have relatively similar case of handling evaporative losses... And if conversion losses of Sun->EV->lights aren't too horrible, you could even cover these with solar panels... What is even the efficiency of electricity used by vertical farms?

[NickNameNick]

I'd expect a greenhouse in the desert to need an enormous amount of ventilation to prevent overheating.

You could probably recover some of the water from the exhaust air with a dehumidifier. I'm not sure if that would use less power than air-conditioning the whole structure, but at that point you're pretty much back to indoors farming anyway.

[kortex]

Bubble foam insulation is the way to go in deserts. This is where you pump a soap water foam in between gaps of greenhouse plastic. When you want to block light/heat, fill that wall with foam. Drain to allow radiation.

Water can be recuperated with an enthalpy wheel.