Gold nanorods (Au NRs) have received extensive attention owing to their extremely attractive applications in photoredox catalysis, plasmon-enhanced spectroscopy, biomedical technologies and optoelectronic devices. Enabled by the unique and tunable surface plasmon resonance (SPR), anisotropic Au NRs can interact with and harvest incident light covering the much of the solar spectrum. As such, they may serve as unusual media to supply energetic hot charge carriers, generate heat, and provide strong local electric field and reactive site for redox reactions through different mechanisms. In this review, we present a comprehensive overview on the burgeoning field of Au NRs-based materials for solar energy conversion. We firstly provide a detailed elucidation of the key underpinning science for plasmonic Au NRs and Au NRs-mediated catalysis. The possible charge transfer processes and corresponding roles of Au NRs played in different photoredox catalysis systems are demonstrated, followed by introducing the latest advances in constructing Au NRs-based hybrids with tailored structure. The applications of the hybrids in photoinduced catalysis, photothermal catalysis and photoelectrochemical catalysis are then discussed. Particularly, the process-intensified engineering strategies to maximize solar energy conversion efficiency are further highlighted based on some typical examples. Finally, the perspectives on future research trends and challenges in rational design and deliberate construction of Au NRs-mediated photoredox catalysis systems in a smart configuration are proposed. (C) 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.