You’re thinking about it right if you’re zoomed into the surface of the water plus a few millimeters above it. But the molecule clusters themselves evaporate after that, which pulls heat from the air.

Gotcha. That heat from the air is also energy input that has to be counted, so it still would equal out in the end, right?

Exactly

So a good analogy might be that it's like a tiny version of what happens in an atomizer. It takes more energy to evaporate water than to turn the same amount of water into a very fine mist. The droplets will then evaporate on their own, using an amount of energy equal to the difference between evaporation and misting.

Thank you, I've got a little clearer view of my world.

Sounds good to me. Energy is a function of state, so if you start and end with the same state, it'll require the same amount of energy. If it takes less light to knock loose bigger clumps, it'll take additional energy from somewhere else to break them up. The remainder will probably come from thermal energy from the air and water, but you could also use something like a laser or chemical reaction.