The topic of production of useful chemical compounds with the help of solar light has been debated at a recent meeting organized in Rome on October 18 and 19, 2018, by the Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei. Some of the contributions presented at this event are collected in this special issue of the Rendiconti Lincei. Scienze fisiche e Naturali. In this paper, we briefly discuss some recent results concerning the use of solar energy by artificial photochemical reactions for four important applications: (i) conversion of solar energy into fuels or (ii) conversion of sunlight into electrical energy, (iii) use of solar energy to perform organic synthesis that cannot be obtained by conventional chemistry, and (iv) photochemical reactions to reduce pollution.
