Pre-equilibrium system and method using solid-state devices as energy converters using nano-engineered porous network materials

An energy conversion device for conversion of photovoltaic energy into electricity, comprising:

• a first electrode;
• a substrate connected to said first electrode;
• a porous semiconductor layer disposed over said substrate, said porous semiconductor layer having a nano-engineered structure;
• a porous catalyst material adapted to be exposed to the photovoltaic energy on at least a portion of said porous semiconductor layer, wherein at least some of the porous catalyst material enters the nano-engineered structure of the porous semiconductor layer to form an intertwining region, the porous catalyst material and the porous semiconductor layer forming solid-state junctions, the solid-state junctions are Schottky diode junctions;
• and
• a second electrode, wherein electrons from the porous catalyst material energized by the photovoltaic energy are injected into the porous semiconductor layer, thereby forming an electrical potential between the first electrode and a second electrode during injection of the electrons from the porous catalyst material into the porous semiconductor layer.