[barney54]

The cost of land might to be a huge issue with deserts, but the cost of transmission is.

[ncmncm]

Yet, the cost of transmission is not. A long transmission line might be expensive to build in the first place, but operating expense is near zero.

That is not the reason solar in the desert is a dumb idea. The dumb idea is putting it where it is maximally hot, instead of spread out in farmland where it is actively beneficial and also generates revenue year-round.

[nine_k]

Transmission from Arizona or Nevada to California looks reasonable. The cost may be reasonable, too, at least the Nevada part.

[bombcar]

The eastern half of Southern California is already desert so you might as well just use that, though one of them had trouble getting of the ground and costs weren't the greatest: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crescent_Dunes_Solar_Energy_Pr...

Others, including https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivanpah_Solar_Power_Facility are doing better

[ncmncm]

Except, desert is a dumb place to put solar.