Viable man-made solar energy conversion systems are not nearly as efficient as the natural system but are much more stable. In terms of absorbing light, organic dyes can have very large optical cross sections and can be designed to have absorption maxima at different wavelengths. Thus as in photosynthesis, a collection of dyes can efficiently absorb light across the solar energy spectrum. However these dyes must be photonically coupled and arranged into hierarchical structures that assure that the energy or electron is transferred to an energy or electron sink with high probability. Other design criteria include the robustness of organic dyes to long term solar irradiation. Commercial viability constrains the complexity and the synthetic methods and requires good reaction scalability. Thus we have designed self-assembled and/or self-organized porphyrinoid systems that are sufficiently electronically coupled to act at conducting wires, photogated transistors, light harvesting arrays, and photocatalysts. The first discrete self-assembled array containing multiple types of chromophore was recently reported, where excitation of one type of chromophore results in emission from a second type. This is essential for vectoral electron or energy transfer in systems using different dyes to conver the solar spectrum. Attachment to surfaces usually results in significant reduction in quantum yields of charge injection, and this issue will also be discussed.