OK so I completed the tutorials and jumped into a single player campaign.

I discovered i'm not very good at this game yet lol... I put it up a difficulty level from apprentice and pick scientific.

My plan was to rush to teleporters and then push chemicals and glass for offices, toolshops and money..

I picked up an elemental quarry worker, other than that, I'm stuck with only solar panels, and ice condenser, which makes it very hard to get energy and water independent...

Can you stock pile energy if I turn auto sell off?

So the first game, fuel remained pricey and so I stuck to buildign my patent and got slanted shafts and teleport.  However, my debt crippled me, I was picking up so much in interest I couldn't pay it off, I lost by a few modules.

Second growth round I did better, I noticed fuel was cheap so didn't bother with the lab and won the round, though again I finished with 150k debt, not good.  I think I need to focus more on my needs, energy, water, food etc, earlier, but with only solar panels I can't ever break even on energy.

Os just starting my third round and this time, my money maker plot in my first four will be glass sat on a silicon tile.  So the starting four are alu, steel, fuel, glass.  I hope this will generate a bit more cash flow with the glass, next four is planned as steel, fuel, chems, food, and build solar panels as I pick up zones on the black market (assuming I'm not in too much debt by then, patent lab if fuel remains pricey..

What am I missing, all my starts have been connected to alu and water, as no water and iron sites.

Again it is a chinese colony so hits my glass and chems production bonuses...

What am I missing as a strategy?

I'm also useless at manipulating prices...