Graphene oxide sheets may be the ideal candidate for solar harvesting. Full radiation spectrum absorbance. High conductivity. Thermoelectric power generation that increases at very high (3000K+) temperatures. Lightweight. Inexpensive. 3D-printable. With cloth-like flexibility.
Might be time to fund a zero-gravity graphene factory in low Earth orbit.
https://phys.org/news/2017-07-gravity-graphene-space-applica...
But in a little more serious manner, if anyone is going in this direction i'd love to hear about it.
Can't we siphon the total energy output of some other star? #NIMBY
To see the kinds of effects this would have on the gas giants would be fascinating. It would probably drastically alter the coriolis banding and spots on Jupiter and Saturn.
Venus would probably be the only other planet affected, and perhaps comet behavior might change. In fact, I wonder if planets would become so cold, that they might produce visible comas as they warm up, when they enter the sun's (now hemispherical) light cone. That's probably the most prominent effect I can see happening.
Plus, it would be fun to screw with societies in other parts of the galaxy that are using their Kepler satellite equivalents. Every time the Earth transits, the light would dip in a way that would lead the observers to think Earth was much larger, thereby much less massive (for the math to work). Great defensive strategy as they would not think our planet was worth pursuing.