NOVELTY - A photovoltaic wire comprises porous layer surrounding a first conductor; semiconducting polymer coating layer surrounding periphery of the porous layer; second conductor at least partially surrounding periphery of the semiconducting polymer layer; and semiconducting nanowires, at least one of the nanowires passes through one of the pores, where the first end of the semiconducting nanowire is electrically connected to the first conductor at the bottom of the pore and the second end of the semiconducting nanowire extends past the opening of the pore into the semiconducting polymer layer.    USE - The photovoltaic wire is used for the delivery of clean efficient point-of-use electric power. It is used to create photovoltaic fabrics (textiles) for sensor networks, tents, power patches for uniforms, solar sails for long term space exploration, and portable electronic devices. The photovoltaic fabric is useful in shelters, roofing, awnings, canopies, garments, plastics, portable electronic devices, battery charging, wireless devices, construction, and automotive applications. The invention can be incorporated into the surface of electronic device packaging (cases), permitting self-charging portable telephones, laptop computers, personal digital assistant and other devices.    ADVANTAGE - This invention allows nanowire arrays to be assembled with a uniform density using a variety of substrates. It can control the length, diameter and center-to-center spacing of the nanowires in the array, which facilitates tuning the array to a particular excitation wavelength. It can provide light collection efficiencies that rival or exceed that of textured crystalline devices as a result of the nano-scale anti-reflective texture of the collecting surface. The array of nanowires acts as a anti-reflective light traps that improves absorption of light across the entire solar band. A large two and three- dimensional photovoltaic textile panel may be constructed, which is light-weight, can be stored in a small enclosure, and has high power density (specific power) in excess of 1000 W/kg.    DETAILED DESCRIPTION - A photovoltaic wire comprises:    (1) porous layer that substantially surrounds the outer periphery of a first conductor and that has pores, each pore having a bottom substantially at the surface of the first conductor and an opening at the outer surface of the porous layer;    (2) semiconducting polymer coating layer that substantially surrounds the periphery of the porous layer;    (3) second conductor that at least partially surrounds the periphery of the semiconducting polymer layer; and    (4) semiconducting nanowires, each with two ends, where at least one of the semiconducting nanowires pass through one of the pores where the first end of the at least one semiconducting nanowires is electrically connected to the first conductor at the bottom of the pore and the second end of the at least one semiconducting nanowires extends substantially past the opening of the pore into the semiconducting polymer layer.    An INDEPENDENT CLAIM is also included for making a nanostructured device comprising:    (A) anodizing a first conductor to produce a porous oxide layer;    (B) growing semiconducting nanowires through the porous oxide layer such that the semiconducting nanowires grow through the pores and extend substantially past the outer surface of the porous oxide layer;    (C) coating the portion of the semiconducting nanowires outside the oxide layer with a semiconducting polymer layer; and    (D) at least partially surrounding the periphery of the semiconducting polymer layer with a second conductor.    DESCRIPTION OF DRAWING(S) - The figure is a schematic view of the photovoltaic wire device showing silicon nanowires distributed about the metallic core.