The most untapped potential for solar development in the United States lies along the US-Mexico border. Solar farms, in turn, are highly secure installations. Re-allocating funds used to construct and maintain the border wall for the construction of energy infrastructure along the border creates scenarios that, in many instances, are more secure than the existing wall, and simultaneously provide solar energy to the Southwest.

 

The stretch between Nogales and Douglas saw 87 miles of border wall construction at a cost of $333.5 million, while the largest solar farm in the world, the Olmedilla Photovoltaic Park in Spain, cost $530 million. For $333.5 million, 54 miles of profit-generating solar farm could be constructed at 40 feet wide, powering 40,000 households. To quote the U.S. Department of Energy, “One square foot of solar energy along the border can power a dishwasher for a year”.