A proposed 2,250-foot Solar Wind Energy Tower in Arizona was designed to generate as much electricity as the Hoover Dam by spraying water mist at the top, creating a downdraft that would spin turbines at the base.
The Desert Tower That Could Rival Hoover Dam
Imagine a concrete tower taller than any building in North America—half a mile high—sitting in the Arizona desert, generating electricity 24 hours a day without solar panels or wind turbines. That's the vision behind the Solar Wind Energy Tower, one of the most ambitious renewable energy projects ever proposed.
How a Downward Wind Generates Power
The concept flips traditional wind power on its head. Instead of waiting for wind to blow, the tower creates its own wind—pointing straight down.
Here's the ingenious process:
- Pumps spray a fine water mist across the tower's open top
- The mist evaporates instantly in the scorching desert air
- This evaporation cools the air dramatically, making it heavier
- The dense, cold air plummets down the tower at up to 50 mph
- At the bottom, the rushing air diverts through tunnels containing turbines
The result? Continuous power generation, day and night, as long as the desert stays hot and dry—which, in Arizona, is basically always.
Matching Hoover Dam's Output
The proposed San Luis, Arizona tower would stand 2,250 feet tall—roughly 1.5 times the height of the Empire State Building. According to the company's final 2018 design, it would generate approximately 5.9 million megawatt-hours annually.
For comparison, Hoover Dam produces about 4 million megawatt-hours per year on average. The tower wouldn't just match the dam—it could potentially exceed it.
Even more impressive: the entire facility would occupy about one square mile. Equivalent solar panel installations would require 10,000 acres. Wind farms would need 100,000 acres.
The Project's Troubled Journey
Solar Wind Energy Tower, Inc. received approval from the city of San Luis in April 2014. The $1.5 billion project was expected to be operational by 2018. The tower would be built on 640 acres purchased from the city, bringing jobs and tax revenue to the small border town.
But as of 2024, the tower remains unbuilt. The company continues to trade as a penny stock, and construction has never begun. Financing the massive project has proven far more challenging than the engineering.
Why It Still Matters
The Solar Wind Energy Tower represents a fascinating approach to renewable energy's biggest problem: intermittency. Solar panels don't work at night. Wind turbines sit idle in calm weather. But downdraft technology could theoretically run continuously in the right climate.
About 11% of the generated electricity would power the water pumps, and roughly three-quarters of the water would be recycled at the tower's base. The physics are sound—it's the economics and financing that have stalled the project for over a decade.
Whether this particular tower ever gets built or not, the concept demonstrates that there may be revolutionary approaches to clean energy still waiting to be tried. Sometimes the most powerful wind doesn't blow across the landscape—it falls through it.