[jesstaa]

> These companies are profitable, but only because the process relies on a supply of cheap fossil fuels. If solar panels supplied the energy, the extra costs and space for the energy supply would again cancel out the savings in terms of space and costs.

Given that solar has become so cheap that new solar is able to compete with existing fossil fuel power this conclusion seems outdated. Solar can be placed in many places where it's not possible to plant in to the ground and it also doesn't account for power from other renewable energy sources that aren't available to plants in a field ie. Wind and Hydro