[bryondowd]

Well, the whole point is that the Earth, due to greenhouse effects, is taking in too much sunlight compared to what it is radiating back out into space. So yeah, you're going to be reducing the total potential harvestable sunlight getting to Earth. However, that's not really a constraint for us at the moment. We just care about tapping sunlight in places near where there is a demand for energy. So, you could probably find a nice band around the Earth where the inability to place highly efficient solar panels wouldn't be missed sorely.

By 'too much weirdness' I'm referring to instigating entirely new and dangerous weather patterns. Ideally, you could keep the weather roughly the same, with the lowered temperatures disbursed enough to create a measurable but not easily noticeable effect.

And we're also not talking about plunging the area into permanent darkness, we're talking about enough reflection to reduce average global temperatures by a few degrees (or at least prevent them from rising further). I expect that could be done, if spread out enough, without enough of an impact on any one area to impact local environments.

Of course, this is all just theoretical. I doubt it's actually a reasonable course of action. I just don't think this is why it isn't.