An ever growing demand for efficient energy conversion, for instance in luminescent lamps, flexible screens and solar cells, results in the current significant growth of research on functionalized nanomaterials for these applications. This paper reviews recent developments of a new class of optically active nanostructured materials based on glasses doped with luminescent Ag nanoclusters consisting of only a few Ag atoms, suitable for mercury-free white light generation and solar down-shifting. This new approach, based solely on Ag nanocluster doped glasses, is compared to other alternatives in the field of Ag and rare-earth ion co-doped materials.