Herein described is a sustainable system for hydrogenation that uses solar light as the ultimate source of energy. The system consists of two steps. Solar energy is captured and chemically stored in the first step; exposure of a solution of azaxanthone in ethanol to solar light causes an energy storing dimerization of the ketone to produce a sterically strained 1,2-diol. In the second step, the chemical energy stored in the vicinal diol is released and used for hydrogenation; the diol offers hydrogen onto alkenes and splits back to azaxanthone, which is easily recovered and reused repeatedly for capturing solar energy.