TECHNOLOGY FOCUS - ELECTRICAL POWER AND ENERGY - Preferred Properties: The fiber core has a glass transition temperature of less than 300 preferably 25-150degreesC. The photosensitized nanomatrix material comprises particles with an average size of 2-100 nm. The fiber core is electrically insulative or conductive. Preferred Components: The photovoltaic material further comprises a catalytic media disposed between the outer surface of the fiber core and the light-transmissive electrical conductor. The catalytic media comprise platinum. The photovoltaic material further comprises an inner electrical conductor disposed on the outer surface of the fiber core. The photovoltaic material can be in the form of a photovoltaic fiber (100a-100d) comprising a fiber core, a photosensitized nanomatrix material applied to the outer surface of the core, and a protective layer comprising a flexible polymeric material in which the photosensitized nanomatrix material coated fiber core, a charge carrier material, and a counter electrode are disposed.    TECHNOLOGY FOCUS - POLYMERS - Preferred Materials: The fiber core comprises a flexible polymeric material, preferably a polyethylene terephthalate. It comprises flax, cotton, wool, silk, nylon, or their combinations. The photosensitized material comprises nanoparticles, a heterojunction composite material, at least one type of interconnected metal oxide nanoparticles, and/or a photosensitizing agent comprising a dye or an organic molecule including xanthines, cyanines, merocyanines, phthalocyanines, or pyrroles. The charge carrier material comprises an electrolyte or a redox system. EXAMPLE - A titanium dioxide nanoparticle film was coated on a tin oxide:fluorine (SnO2:F)coated glass slide. The polylinker solution was a 1 wt.% solution of the poly(n-butyl titanate) in n-butanol. The concentration of the polylinker in the solvent was preferably less than 5 wt.%. To interconnect the particles, the nanoparticle film coated slide was dipped in the polylinker solution for 15 minutes and heated at 150degreesC for 30 minutes. The polylinker treated titanium dioxide (TiO2) film was photosensitized with a 3x10-4 N3 dye solution for 1 hour. The polylinker treated TiO2 film coated slide was fabricated into a 0.6 cm2 photovoltaic cell by sandwiching a triiodide based liquid redox electrolyte between the TiO2 film coated slide and a platinum coated SnO2:F glass slide using 2 mil SURLYN 1702 hot melt adhesive. The cell exhibited a solar conversion efficiency of as high as 3.33% at AM 1.5 solar simulator conditions. The completed solar cells exhibited an average solar conversion efficiency of 3.02%, an average open circuit voltage of 0.66 V, an average short circuit current of 8.71 mA/cm2, and an average fill factor of 0.49.