Another "Spaced Out" Idea
Blah, blah, blah.
Like going to the moon was not a problem.
So far it is the only thing mentioned that is not a bandaid.
The nice thing about Buck Rogers is that he never seemed to have to worry about niggling little details...like, "physics". You can't just have a massive structure in space that isn't tied to something...and, physics would be one of the better things to tie it to.
I think a better, and more practical system, would put large solar
reflectors into orbit. Being more massive and stiffer structures, there is a way to actually
utilize the solar wind. Each reflector would "tumble" such that it would present it's broadside to the sun on orbital ascention and then sweep a swath of concentrated light to the surface as it both orbits and rotates. On the "dark side" of the orbit, the edge-on profile would tend to face the sun.
By this system, no boost engines would be required. The boost would come from the solar wind on each revolution. In fact, no power at all would need to be added. It's power source for all functions (orbital position, tumble rate, focal point shaping, up/down link telemetry, etc. would all be solar powered. In further fact, with the exception of periodic manned maintenance missions, and ground monitoring, no human interface for the space segment would be needed at all.
Unlike the ISS, it would be a very safe structure to work on as there would be no massive gimbals sluing solar panels around. The entire reflector "slues" with each orbit and the only movements within the reflector would be from 10's of thousands of tiny (very simple) motors doing the focus shaping and orbital fine tuning.
It has to be noted that this system doesn't actually add or subtract energy from the earth. It merely concentrates it so the energy can be controlled. Sort of like wind turbines. The wind blows. The question of whether we take advantage of the wind blowing is up to us. Same with waves and tides and geothermal and cows farting, etc., etc.
Of course, that's a fairly embryonic description of the reflector but, you get the idea.