Solar energy is the most abundant energy resource on
earth. Unfortunately,
only a very small portion of the solar radiation can be utilized by
current light-harvesting materials, thus leading to the poor utilization
efficiency of solar energy. In this regard, aggregation-induced emission
luminogens (AIEgens) have demonstrated versatile properties that can
enhance energy conversion and potentially revolutionize solar utilization
systems. AIEgens with great processability can selectively absorb
radiation across multiple spectral regions and transform solar energy
into longer-wavelength light, heat, or alternative forms of energy.
These processes can considerably enhance the solar energy utilization
performance by either developing light-harvesting systems based on
AIEgens or hybridizing modern light-harvesting systems with AIE technology.
In this Perspective, based on material properties, we highlight different
functions of AIEgens related to solar light utilization, including
sunlight transformation, chemical conversion, and thermal conversion.