EEVblog #1002 - Trump's Solar Freakin' Wall DEBUNKED!

Will Trump's Mexican border solar powered wall pay for itself?
Dave runs the numbers to find out what the solar payback is.
NOTE: These are BEST CASE (non-practical) figures that don't include any system losses from a single long line array like this, or anything to do with the changing wall topology, or increased maintenance costs etc.
The cost to maintain this system could be an order of magnitude higher than a traditional solar array farm.
The point of the video is to check if the *ballpark* figure works out before getting more techniical, it doesn't.

SPOILER:
At best figure with *no losses* is $1BN payback for a 10 year period. 1/20th the cost of the wall. In practice it will be much worse than this, likely double the payback period or more.
And if you want to argue it will pay back the solar install cost then why not install a normal utility scale solar array farm in the Texas desert? Much more efficient and practical.
Installing a long array on a wall like this is a technically dumb idea.

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[EEVblog]

This video seems to have triggered a certain number of people, so I'm left with no choice.
This video is not about politics, it's about a solar wall paying for itself, or solar in a broader sense if you want to discuss that.
If you want to talk politics your comment will deleted.
If you want to abuse others, you will be blocked from this channel.
Thanks for keeping it on-topic.

[santopino]

Normally one would choose solar to keep it near the consumer, I cannot imagine the power losses over long distances lines and the cost of maintenance.

[EastyUK]

Though it may help the Mexican solar movement having all these panels on the south side of a wall free for the taking.

[TheRealSasquatch]

I could understand having small arrays of solar panels to power lighting, microwave radar arrays, cameras, shock sensors and comms equipment, but it would be highly inefficient to have panels along the whole length of the wall as opposed to a traditional solar "farm". The losses in the cable runs would be substantial in themselves and the maintainance costs for a 2, 000 mile array would be incalcuable esp. as the panels would be facing the "hostile" side where they would be more susceptible to attack by gunfire etc. Just look at roadside signs with bullet holes to see that! A couple of large solar farms could generate sufficient revenue to pay for the maintainance costs of the wall and increased border patrols, but the wall itself is just a huge capital cost.

[Skyfox]

I can easily imagine those solar panels being stolen from the southern side, or simply vandalized.

[samheasmanwhite]

Another serious problem with putting a string of panels out in the middle of nowhere is theft. Unless you have some extreme levels of patrolling there will be quite a few going missing since someone could make quite a life for themselves journeying out to a different section of wall each day and grabbing a couple of panels before anyone can respond.

[tnology]

Facts - the enemy of politicians everywhere.

[daveknight]

I mean, you could already smell the bullshit coming out of the politician's mouths but thanks Dave for making it official!

[ultravidz]

I wonder if mounting solar panels would make the wall easier to climb over

[GeoffreyFeldmanMA]

Not discussed here is transmission line loss along 2000k as opposed to a more or less rectilinear array of the same number of panels. A wall is probably not the most efficient deployment.

[Barney]

I apprrtiate peoppe like you and ThunderF00t, you guys will actually inform us about whats really going on and even include some banter rather than making it all about ripping into 'lesser educated' individuals.

[brackitbrackit]

I really enjoy these debunking videos, and you do a nice job of it. It's refreshing to watch someone approach a problem dispassionately and apply math and reasoning in order to challenge assertions, and I think it's a great contribution to YouTube.

[thetaleteller]

So hey, why don't we forget about that wall rubbish and just build a square 500MW Solar Array somewhere in Texas. It saves 3000km of cable and countless transformers as well pays itself within 10 years.

Oh wait, solar, thats renewable energy, right! Now that wont make the coal miners happy he talked into reverting back to the 1960ies.

[pdrpagan]

Dave, your offhand "back of the envelope", practically effortless (for you) calculations proves why we need more crazy Ozzy blokes (seriously entertaining experts) in the forefront sharing information that most people would never otherwise work out for themselves. You rock.

[RawbeardX]

if the math doesn't work out, Trump will make a better deal with math

[ZeldagigafanMatthew]

I think Trump said "let's make this wall a solar power plant as well" just to draw in the crowd that really really wants renewable energy sources, but this would easily double or triple the costs of the wall. Not only are the panels going to cost a lot of money, but so too is the cabling. We also have to pay for transformers and inverters as well.

[enhydralutra]

It's sad to see the audience members from a certain YouTube channel who claim to be pro-science get so angry at Dave for criticizing their ideological proponent. Science doesn't favor any political party, and the sooner that people learn that, the better off they'll be.

[danielsanichiban]

On top of all that, unlike typical systems it also needs to be more secure from rocks being hurled at it all year long. So yeah factor that in...

[expatriateprepper]

OK, point taken, Trump should have said, "partially pay for itself". We all know politicians do not speak to accuracy but to people's emotions. I say why not do the solar anyway? If it mitigates the harm to our environment vis-a-vis decrease of fossil fuels and nuclear usage, which I hope you agree is, in its present state ala Fukushima, Chernobyl, and 3 Mile Island, something we need to get away from. There would be other benefits as well, especially if Trump does it right: more research into solar and other alternatives, a lot of good paying jobs, education, etc.

In the past Trump mentioned other ways to pay for this wall such as taxing money beginning wired out of the U.S. to Mexico. But that isn't really what we are talking about here is it? It is you have a fundamental problem with the man, Trump. Do you have a problem with Trump putting up the wall in the first place? Your country of Australia has the benefit of having oceans as your borders. Perhaps you are not aware of the problems of illegal economic migrants entering the U.S. and into Europe for that matter. This is a complex issue since the governments themselves are at fault.

A country should have secure borders if they want to remain a country. Let Trump have his solar wall while you have your natural barriers for security.

[msg]

That's a brilliant idea! Every single student, graduating, should put a solar panel on top of the graduate cap, even the shape matches perfectly! The student loan will pay for itself!