TECHNOLOGY FOCUS - ELECTRONICS - Preferred Nanowire Structure: The inorganic semiconducting nanoporous charge conducting phase is ordered and/or orientationally ordered. The inorganic semiconducting nanoporous charge conducting phase is an inorganic oxide, a metal oxide, a non-organic charge-conducting material capable of electron and/or hole conduction, and/or semitransparent or transparent to sensitizer-absorbed wavelengths of light. The inorganic semiconducting nanoporous charge conducting phase is a wide-bandgap semiconducting oxide, an n-type material, titanium oxide (TiO2), zinc oxide (ZnO), tin oxide (SnO2), a p-type material, copper thiocyanate (CuSCN), copper iodide (CuI), gallium nitride (GaN), or nickel oxide (NiO). The inorganic semiconducting nanoporous charge conducting phase has a pore structure and the pore structure serves as a template to control the diameter, length, shape, orientation, and density of the nanowire array. The inorganic semiconductor nanowire array is a sensitizer or a conducting phase. It is also a light absorber and source of photoinjected charge electrons or holes, or a conductor of one of holes or electrons. The inorganic semiconducting nanowire array is quantum and/or non-quantum, narrow-bandgap, a p-type semiconductor, an n-type semiconductor, copper oxide (CuO), cadmium telluride (CdTe), cadmium selenide (CdSe), CuInSe2, CuSCN, or silicon (Si). The inorganic nanowires are formed using an electrochemical process controlling the effective electron diffusion length. It is also formed using an electrochemical process comprising: (a) providing a nanoporous phase and an inorganic precursor material for the formation of nanowires; (b) growing the nanowires in the pores of the nanoporous phase to produce a two-phase nanowire structure; and (c) incorporating the two-phase nanowire structure as an active element as a sensitized solar cell. Preferred Method: Producing the inorganic nanowire structure is bottom-up. The method also comprises incorporating the inorganic two-phase nanowire structure as an active element as a sensitized solar cell.