From Supersonic Flights to 1.9 Million Solar Panels: the Transformation of the Mojave Desert

At Nevada's 1.8-million-panel Gemini solar farm, a rare desert milkvetch produced eight times more flowers and ten times more fruit than plants outside, because the panel rows held rain in the soil long after the same Mojave sun had pulled it from open ground

The solar panels meant to harness the desert's sun are inadvertently nurturing one of its rarest plants, raising questions about whether industrial sprawl might sometimes create unexpected refuges.