I love this idea, which Fox Business reported last week. The wall will provide abundant, cheap energy which will bring Mexico into the 21 st century, spurring industry and growing their economy, not to mention ours. The middle class will grow and Mexicans will no longer have the incentive to cross the border but those who do will find an unpenitratible wall of scorching solar panels. Because it provides much needed energy to the Mexican people, they will probably help to ensure it doesn’t get destroyed.
I would be all for using that for sections near populated areas. In remote areas every time they test modern technology as part of border security it fails. The main issue is in remote areas getting anyone to work on that stuff is next to impossible and the cost is so high the work doesn’t get done, no one wants it to come out of their budget. Technology is not good at continuing to work without maintenance. Sections of the border are 3-4 hours or more from a population center that has people skilled enough to work on technical things. This is why I was against the virtual fence or similar suggestions. They may be great in populated areas but not feasible for remote areas. Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas have miles and miles of remote border that is not near populated areas or not populated enough to have tech people of any sort.
Where I live there are sections of the border that are 5 or more hours from a city. When people do come out to service those areas the work day is done or nearly done when they arrive and there is no where for them to stay the night because closest motels are 2-3 hours away.