The most modern idea seems to be a Dyson swarm, which is not solid and consists of solar panels and habitats orbiting at a comfortable distance. Power is relaye

The most modern idea seems to be a Dyson swarm, which is not solid and consists of solar panels and habitats orbiting at a comfortable distance. Power is relayed using microwave transmitters and receivers and conceptually a large portion would be fed into particle accelerators for the manufacture of Anti-Matter on industrial scale.