Solar stocks surge after Trump floats idea of sun-powered border wall

Solar stocks soared Thursday after President Donald Trump, speaking at a rally in Iowa, appeared to float the idea of equipping his potential southern border wall with solar panels. TRUMP REMARKS: At a rally in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on Wednesday evening, President Trump stated: "We're thinking of something that's unique. 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. And this way Mexico will have to pay much less money, and that's good... Makes sense. Let's see. We're working it out. We'll see." IDEA PREVIOUSLY FLOATED: According to reports by Politico and Axios on June 6, President Trump presented the idea of lining the border wall with solar panels in a meeting with Congressional leaders that day. Trump didn't "express certainty" that the concept would come to fruition but said he'd become aware of the idea and wanted input, according to Politico. Those reports followed media coverage in early April on construction bids submitted for the wall, which noted that Gleason Partners had proposed to cover the wall in solar panels. FEASIBILITY: Bloomberg reported on June 9 that Axiom Capital analyst Gordon Johnson modeled the solar wall idea, finding that the roughly 13.4M panels needed to cover the structure would add an additional $7.6B in costs and generate roughly $221M in annual profits. Taxpayers would be break-even after 125 years without adjusting for inflation, but discounting for expected changes in the value of money would leave a significant funding gap, and Johnson also warned that solar panels need to be replaced over time. PRICE ACTION: Shares of SunPower (SPWR) are up 15.6% in afternoon trading, while First Solar (FSLR) and JinkoSolar (JKS) are up in the range of 5%. Canadian Solar (CSIQ) and JA Solar (JASO) are higher by 10% and 1.4%, respectively. Tesla (TSLA), which last year acquired SolarCity, is up 2%.