> So what you paid for as an investor was a bunch of R&D research on how to replace natural and free sunlight with LEDs. (The fact that there are investor decks out there pitching that energy costs could be offset by investments in solar panels is laughably hilarious.).
Some of those already existing greenhouses are using LEDs to augment natural sunlight. [0]
So it doesn't seem too far fetched to me. The gamble wasn't to replace (free) sunlight with (paid) LEDs. The core idea is stacking farms on top each other, hoping the reduced land (area) requirement vs increased energy cost might pay off.
Turns out land isn't that short, transportation not too expensive and energy not that cheap.
Some of those already existing greenhouses are using LEDs to augment natural sunlight. [0]
So it doesn't seem too far fetched to me. The gamble wasn't to replace (free) sunlight with (paid) LEDs. The core idea is stacking farms on top each other, hoping the reduced land (area) requirement vs increased energy cost might pay off.
Turns out land isn't that short, transportation not too expensive and energy not that cheap.
[0] https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/glowing-dutch-greenhou...