Japan Rolls out a Solar Satellite Power Plant that Could Be Built in 4 Years

The thing looks like a death ray generator but it might be the wave of the future.

Mitsubishi and IHI are joining a research group containing 14 other countries to tackle the daunting task of getting Japan�s four square kilometer solar space station up and running in the next three decades. By 2015, the Japanese government hopes to test a small satellite decked out with solar panels that beams power through space and back to Earth.