A couple of solar companies are pursuing this intriguing idea: just lay the solar panels on the ground. Eliminating all the racking & tracking hardware saves about 20% up front, which is enormous. Excited to see if this works long-term. https://www.canarymedia.com/articles/solar/a-100mw-solar-farm-in-texas-will-mount-panels-directly-on-the-ground

@drvolts Solar panels flat to the ground sounds problematical. Water and ice build up? Animals walking across? Build up of leaves? Or simply uses up too much space. Better to raise up the panels and put something useful underneath https://www.jackssolargarden.com/