Definitely to the extent that "disturbed" lands of all kinds can be repurposed for renewable energy generation, that likely makes things easier, in terms of avoiding conflicts (and harm) building on undisturbed wildlife habitat in particular. Abandoned mines, Superfund cites, fallow farm fields, etc. -- not to mention rooftops, warehouses, over parking lots and other spots within the built environment. I'd never heard former strip malls brought up, but that could be interesting!

Even with a ton of rooftop solar and stuff built on disturbed sites, I don't think the land use conflicts go away -- see this piece I wrote in 2021: https://www.latimes.com/environment/newsletter/2021-01-07/how-rooftop-solar-could-save-americans-473-billion-dollars-boiling-point. But a lot could be avoided.

Thank you for the good question!