Is it science fiction or science fact? I read today that the Japanese, led by Mitsubishi, plan on setting up a 1 GW power satellite that will beam down its load via microwaves by 2030 and cost about 2 trillion yen.
By my calculations, that would mean energy from this system would cost around USD 21 million per megawatt, by far the most expensive major source of energy today.
At first glance, it would seem rather foolish to spend such large sums of money for a system that seems so economically unviable. In fact, one American study estimates that such a system would actually cost around USD 1 billion per megawatt, given current launch costs and other space related expenditures. Add in environmental questions about the safety of the process used to get the energy back here to earth, and the suspicion that such systems could be used for long-range weapons, and the problems become even more complex.
And yet, you have to admire the Japanese for their very long range thinking. Such systems may not be feasible now, but their plan calls for a process that will last decades. At the least, their initial tests in 2015 of a smaller satellite might give valuable information for other ambitious nations.