Yeah, I cant imagine how a structure could be built without the star being AT LEAST as far away from the habitable areas as the earth is from the sun. Otherwise, you would have no liquids, and I cant imagine any life surviving. I thought the Trek episode "Relics" (was that the right one?) where they found Scotty on a Dyson sphere was done well. Amazing concept indeed!
Was that the TNG episode? It's been years since I've seen it so I don't remember all the details, but I remember the Dyson sphere and thinking it was a fascinating concept.
Theoretically unmanned drones (robots) could be used to do the manual labor if the conditions weren't conducive to human life. We could monitor it from afar. So basically they'd be used to put the solar panels in place, but still, it would be a monumental project that stretches the bounds of actually being able to complete.
Just manufacturing enough solar panels and building materials alone would be astronomical (pardon the pun
) in terms of cost and energy expended to construct the "housing". But then again, if we developed the technology to actually get to a star (other than our own) in order to encase it and exploit its energy output chances are we'd be farther advanced with manufacturing also.
Still, it's just such a fascinating concept that I can't help but like it.