President Donald Trump’s idea for a solar panel border wall “isn’t off the table,” according to a top Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officer.
San Diego field office division chief Mario Villarreal is overseeing construction of eight prototype border walls by six companies near San Diego, Calif. Each company is competing for a contract potentially worth around $300 million, the Washington Examiner reports.
“We’re excited to see the industry come up with new, innovative, and creative ideas in the form of border wall prototypes,” Villarreal told the Washington Examiner. “We’re certainly looking for different methods and ways to make this better. Solar panels or technology bundles on top of the fence certainly isn’t off the table.”
Trump publicly floated the idea in a June speech as a way to help pay for the wall. The electricity from the solar panels could flow into the U.S. energy grid and sold.
“We’re talking about the southern border, lots of sun, lots of heat. We’re thinking about building the wall as a solar wall so it creates energy and pays for itself,” Trump said, according to The Washington Times. “And this way, Mexico will have to pay much less money. And that’s good, right?”
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