The discipline of Materials for Energy Conversion and Conservation aims to give an overview of the problem of fossil based energy sources and the alternative renewable energies present for a greener economy. Than it explores the materials that can be used to convert solar energy into electrical energy (cells, modules and photovoltaic systems) or into heat (thermal collectors), thermal energy into electricity (thermoelectrics); mechanical energy into electrical energy (piezoelectrics and nano-generators), chemical energy into electricity (fuel cells and batteries) and other forms of energy storage (ex: supercapacitors).