eli5 Why is there no giant solar farm in Australia?

Question

My cursory Google says that it’s not impossible. So why?

EDIT: Answer seems to be that (politics aside) practically it’s cost prohibitive and the tech can’t transfer the energy over the distance required.

In: 609

Answer 1

There was a giant solar farm in the sahara that was a bust not because it didn’t work but because photovoltaics got so cheap. It’s cheaper to put solar panels on rooftops and fields close to where you need the electricity than to build in middle of nowhere then also build the infrastructure to move the electricity where you need it. (This is true even for cloudy areas like north europe.)

.02

edit to add Youtube link to cool video