All rights reserved. To meet the growing energy demands in a low-carbon economy, the development of new materials that improve the efficiency of energy conversion and storage systems is essential. Mesoporous materials offer opportunities in energy conversion and storage applications owing to their extraordinarily high surface areas and large pore volumes. These properties may improve the performance of materials in terms of energy and power density, lifetime and stability. In this Review, we summarize the primary methods for preparing mesoporous materials and discuss their applications as electrodes and/or catalysts in solar cells, solar fuel production, rechargeable batteries, supercapacitors and fuel cells. Finally, we outline the research and development challenges of mesoporous materials that need to be overcome to increase their contribution in renewable energy applications.