John a related subject was covered in another link, with the right kind of panels in desert places, resembling windows, greenhouses can maybe be constructed within which things can be grown, at the same time as the power needed to generate fuel... this might be how to create new areas of highly desirable living places in desert areas, it all seems to fit together to provide a solution to all things.
The panel technology comprises panes of glass like material which can be big or small, chained together, I can imagine trees and maybe even whole forests living under flexible blankets of this material, protected from the worst burning power of the sun, but that power being instead channeled towards being the power we put to use, from the output of the panels.