The environmental impact of building solar farms in the middle of the desert didn’t seem very high compared to impact of global warming (or like they said growing grain for ethanol).
Regardless, the answer should be yes to anything that will move us along towards more clean energy.
Walmart could do it at scale, but they already can put megawatts of solar on existing roofs for their stores. Article mentions several states where solar is discouraged to protect monopolies. Not to mention another article out saying Republican-led states are actively punishing corporations who reduce their emissions. Walmart isn’t going to see a realistic payback from that investment, and could even face backlash. They also sometimes get tax credits and incentives from the power company to build a Supercenter in a certain area. They do however buy into solar farms to offset their carbon.
Other retailers (Trader Joe’s or Starbucks) it wouldn’t make sense for, most lease their buildings and don’t have enough expertise to take this on. Commercial property owners wouldn’t care about this.
Some states in the USA have a “community solar” project concept where you can invest in a solar project and the power it generates can directly credit your electric bill (basically decoupling location from solar ownership). I just wish it worked better and more people were investing in it.
If the parking lot and building belong to the developer, they can put up the solar farm. Besides pocketing the extra revenue, they can attract better tenants or offer better prices than the competition.
Farm fields, pastures, canals, lakes, and reservoirs are smart places for solar.