Resumo: Resumo: Harvesting, converting, and utilizing sunlight provides the potential for clean, safe, and sustainable energy that can match the growing energy demands of the planet and mitigate the problems imposed by fossil fuels. Solar energy can be used for heating, can be converted directly into electricity, or can promote the conversion of basic chemical feedstocks, such as water or CO2, into clean alternative fuels. The development of new technologies to capture and convert sunlight in storable or usable ways that are cost-effective and highly efficient is imperative for the future of humankind, and the rational design of molecules is a powerful strategy. Recent advances in the use of molecules to harness sunlight will be presented and discussed in this talk: conversion of light-into-electricity using dye-sensitized solar cells; artificial photosynthetic reactions with molecular catalysts, and molecule/material hybrid photoelectrodes for cooperative sunlight-driven generation of liquid fuels.