I think lasers are pretty wack when you think about them through this lens. A small, wand-like object in your hand can make light appear from seemingly nowhere. If it’s powerful enough it can set things on fire or blind people. Not to mention larger ones like laser cutters or the LLD, used to destroy missiles midflight. Thats sure to blow some feudal peasant minds
Correction. It actually has been done.. A prototype has successfully demonstrated proof of concept.
You are right about the efficiency, but since the amount of energy that can be gathered in orbit is so large, the small fraction that can be received on Earth could still be significant.