What is the most damage/destruction I can do to Venus by redirecting sunlight?
Assuming I have the technical means of redirecting sunlight from a position in interplanetary space (placing the mirror[s] wherever necessary), how much havoc can I wreak on the planet Venus? Of special interest to me: could I do so much damage that the beam burns away the atmosphere or causes physical damage to the structure of the planet itself?
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How much sunlight can you focus?
Troy Rising postulates a solar-pumped "laser" that can push nearly 2000 petawatts, which reportedly can "destroy the Earth in 6 months, the biosphere in 16 days."
But that's boring. What if we tried more power?
Well, XKCD speculated what would happen if you aimed really powerful lasers at the moon. At a "measly" 5 petawatts, the surface turns to magma. At about 2.5 yottawatts (2.5e24 watts)... well, things get interesting. At that point, "ablative armor" comes into effect in a significant way. Moreover, the ejecta effectively becomes a propulsion system that pushes the celestial body out of orbit. Luna is smaller than Venus, but that just means your, ah, "engine" has more mass to push, but also a larger "fuel tank".
For perspective, that last number is about 0.5% of the sun's output. You're on your way to Kardashev II, but you've still got a couple orders of magnitude to go.
Pro Tip: If you want your planet to stay in place while you're obliterating it, make sure to hit it from at least two angles (the more, the better) and be careful to keep your forces from the ejecta you're producing balanced. (Note: this is true even for meteoroids, asteroids, etc., not just planets.)
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