The sun beats down 300 days a year in southern Nevada, where energy developers hope a vast desert, dotted with spiky green shrubs known as Spanish daggers, will play host to a new generation of solar farms.

Developers often seek out government-owned lands such as these to harness the sun's rays, but those ambitions were dashed last year when the Trump administration essentially put solar development on those lands on ice.

Now, despite President Trump's disdain for renewable energy, the solar industry is growing quickly-particularly in regions he won in 2024. Those states accounted for more than 70% of all solar capacity installed in the first half of the year and represented eight of the top 10 states for new installations, according to the Solar Energy Industries Association.

In Nevada, projects are even moving forward on federal lands. Eight such projects are progressing through the Interior Department's pipeline, according to its Bureau of Land Management. The swing state, which voted for Trump in 2024 and is led by a GOP governor, is one of the top producers and consumers of solar power-it gets about one-third of its energy from the sun's rays.

"It's encouraging to see these projects moving forward," said Tim Pawlenty, president and chief executive of the Solar Energy Industries Association. "But we also need a predictable, durable permitting framework that allows all projects to move forward in a timely way so we can keep adding affordable power to the grid."

In Nevada, two of the highest-profile developments that are advancing are the Mosey Solar Project and the Purple Sage Energy Center, both of which are poised to be built around the Pahrump Valley.

Mosey, a 500-megawatt solar farm accompanied by battery storage, is projected to cost $1.7 billion and cover about 3,565 acres of public land. Construction could begin as soon as 2029. Purple Sage is a slightly smaller solar-power and battery-storage project.

Until recently, both had been in limbo. All solar and wind energy projects on federal lands and waters have to be personally approved by Interior Secretary Doug Burgum's office, following an order from Trump to scrutinize renewable projects. A federal judge, however, sided with renewable companies after they challenged the department's policy in court. Meanwhile, the One Big Beautiful Bill gutted incentives for clean energy.

Nevada Gov. Joe Lombardo is taking credit for the administration's reversal-and he said it was relatively easy to persuade the president to embrace solar in the Silver State.

"I walked him through it. I said, 'You've been to Nevada; you have a hotel in Nevada,'" Lombardo said on the "GangboX" podcast, which focuses on union construction workers in the area. "He goes, 'OK, sounds good, I'm glad you brought it up. I'll call Burgum and tell him it's allowable in Nevada'-that's as simple as it was."

White House spokeswoman Taylor Rogers said Trump's priority is "expanding baseload power for the American people, and he will continue to unleash reliable, affordable and secure energy."

The solar industry is pleased to see its projects getting the OK. Kelsey Jonat, senior manager of development at Clearway Energy Group, a developer behind Mosey, said the project will "support a more resilient energy grid and create new revenue" for the area.

Outside Nevada, only a handful of solar projects on federal land have moved forward this year, according to the Bureau of Land Management, which has lost hundreds of staff under Trump.

Since the start of the president's second term, about 20 applications and two solar authorizations have been closed, the bureau said, adding that some of those were withdrawn by the applicants while others were rejected.

"Projects advance only when they meet appropriate siting and information requirements, protecting public lands and serving the long-term interests of the American people," a BLM representative said, adding that the projects that are advancing will "contribute to increased renewable energy, economic opportunity and reliable power."

Despite the thaw in Nevada, U.S. Rep. Susie Lee, a Democrat, said solar developers were still in a tough spot.

"We already have a struggling economy, but then you take a sledgehammer to one of the more promising sectors of our economy and basically stall any development?" she said. "No one quite knows what the special sauce is for getting your project approved."

Nevada's energy infrastructure is set to be tested as the state becomes a top locale for power-hungry data centers. The Interior Department approved a data center in Boulder City this summer that was originally pitched as a solar project.

Las Vegas is particularly energy-thirsty. The commercial sector, including the iconic Strip lighted up by flashing neon signs that flank air-conditioned clubs and casinos, accounts for about two-fifths of the city's total electricity demand, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

Solar power is "a critical industry for our state," in order to lower utility costs and shore up Nevada's energy portfolio, said Sen. Jacky Rosen, a Democrat.

Some locals in the mainly conservative Pahrump region are concerned about the change in tides. They aren't necessarily opposed to solar but instead object to sending some of the energy to power California homes, said Kevin Emmerich, who founded a nonprofit called Basin and Range Watch that focuses on conservation. Nevada solar power has long fed California homes, including the Silver State South Solar Project that came online 10 years ago.

"There's not a hate for solar panels-there's resentment for the amount of land they want and where they want to send the power," Emmerich said. "A lot of us have our own solar panels-we think it's kind of neat."